.^^ 


^•^ 


Columbia  (Mntt)e«ftp 
intljeCitpofl^mgork 

THE  LIBRARIES 


Bequest  of 

Frederic  Bancroft 

1860-1945 


^# 


^M: 


MEMORIES 


STANLEY  PUMPHREY 


BY 

HENRY    STAxN^LEY    NEWMAN 

OF   ENGLAND 


NEW  YORK 
FRIEiTDS'     BOOK  '.AKD  : TRACT    COMMITTEE 
,. -.„o     .  fi:^   Water    Street 
.   .1S83;    '     V' 


V-^  VJl-    »  I 


?3?.  9^ 


^/os^ti 


Copyright,  1S83,  by 
DAVID    S  .    T  A  P.  E  R 


'  Trc/v? 's*      •      .... 
Printing  AND  BfioifeiNDiNG  Company, 
201^73  B^as{  TiOelftk  ^tieit, 
•NEw^oitKj' '     ';;    ' 


CO  NTENTS 


CHAPTER   I. 

PAGE 

Boyhood ' 

CHAPTER  II. 
Apprenticeship, H 

CHAPTER  III. 
Life  in  Dublin, 35 

CHAPTER  IV. 
Cirencester, 47 

CHAPTER  V. 
Cirencester — Continued, '  •         •     "3 

CHAPTER   VI. 
Ireland, 73 

CHAPTER   VII. 
Worcester, 9^ 

CHAPTER   VIII. 
Baltimore, "^ 

CHAPTER   IX. 
North  Carolina,        .        . '22 

CHAPTER  X. 

Illustrations  of  Peace  Principles,        .        .        •        •  i34 

CHAPTER  XI. 
Tennessee, *5^ 


iv  Contents. 

CHAPTER  xn. 

PAGE 

Hampton, 165 

CHAPTER   XHI. 
Philadelphia, '     .        .        .        .169 

CHAPTER   XIV. 
New  York, 175 

CHAPTER  XV. 
New  England, 183 

CHAPTER   XVI. 
Kansas,  .        . 199 

CHAPTER   XVII. 
Indian  Territory, 208 

CHAPTER   XVIII. 
Iowa 231 

CHAPTER   XIX. 
Indiana, 242 

CHAPTER   XX. 
Western, 251 

CHAPTER   XXI. 
Ohio, 255 

CHAPTER   XXII. 
Work  Among  the  Coloured  People,      ....  262 

CHAPTER   XXIII. 
Canada, 277  - 

CHAPTER   XXIV. 
Returning  Home, 284 

CHAPTER   XXV. 
At  Rest, 289 


MEMORIES  OF 

STANLEY    PUMPHREY, 


CHAPTER  I. 

BOYHOOD. 


In  the  heart  of  the  City  of  Worcester,  in  the  Cross, 
stands  St.  Nicholas  Church,  and  there  in  1837  stood 
the  parsonage,  which  was  for  years  the  home  of  the 
late  Frances  Ridley  Havergal,  at  that  time  a  blithe 
active  girl  intent  on  doing  good.  Exactly  opposite 
formerly  stood  a  chandler's  shop,  and  there  on  the 
15th  July,  Stanley  Pumphrey  was  born  of  sober 
godly  parents.  The  lad  was  named  after  his  father, 
the  first  boy  of  the  family,  having  two  older  sisters. 
His  mother's  name  was  Mary,  the  eldest  daughter 
of  Samuel  Westcombe,  and  as  one  child  after 
another  arrived,  scrupulous  frugality  was  needed, 
and  the  mother  might  seem  to  be  careful  and 
troubled  about  many  things  ;  albeit  there  was  a 
strong  reserve  force  of  devout  Christianity,  and 
much  of  her  own  bright  character  became  devel- 
oped in  her  children. 


2  Memories  of  Stanley  Pumphrey. 

On  the  birth  of  Stanley,  his  young  sister  was  sent 
up  to  St.  John's  with  the  good  news,  informing  her 
aunts  in  her  own  way,  **  Polly  has  got  a  little  bother  !  " 

His  nurse  had  a  summary  mode  of  putting  the 
child  to  sleep  by  closing  his  eyes  and  keeping  them 
shut  with  her  own  fingers.  One  day  he  rebelled 
against  the  procedure,  declaring  he  did  not  want  to 
go  to  sleep.  ''Then  I  shall  put  your  head  out  of 
the  window,"  said  the  nurse.  This  threat  had  not, 
however,  the  desired  effect,  and  the  nurse  seized  her 
young  charge  and  thrust  his  head  through  the  win- 
dow, astonishing  the  foot  passengers  in  the  street 
below  with  the  fall  of  the  broken  glass. 

The  boy  was  early  taught  the  love  of  Jesus,  and 
the  child's  heart  turned  lovingly  towards  the  Sav- 
iour. When  a  very  tiny  lad  on  his  mother's  knee 
looking  at  pictures,  he  said,  ''What  is  this  picture, 
mamma?"  pointing  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  She 
told  him  of  the  love  of  Jesus  for  little  children,  and 
he  whispered  reverently,  with  the  bright  happy  look 
bean^ing  on  his  face,  in  the  same  loving  way  with 
which  he  repeated  Ann  Taylor's  favourite  lines,  ''^  My 
Mother,"  emphasizing  the  words,  "Jesus,  my  Sav- 
iour." 

When  about  four  years  old  he  was  very  fond  of 
playing  at  Scripture  characters,  describing  some 
character  and  getting  the  others  to  guess  who  it  was. 

"  Grandpapa,  I  have  got  some  one  for  thee  to 
guess,"  he  would  say  to  his  grandfather. 

"Then  tell  me  something  about  him,"  the  old 
man  replied,  for  he  delighted  in  his  little  grandchild. 

"  Well  then,  thou  wilt  find  him  in  the  Bible." 


Boyhood.  3 

"■  In  the  New  Testament  or  the  Old  ?  " 

"  In  the  New." 

''  Was  he  a  good  man  ? " 

"  I  don't  know,"  answered  the  child. 

*'Not  know  whether  he  was  a  good  man  or  a  bad 
one  ? " 

*'No,  grandpapa,  some  things  make  me  think  he 
was  good,  and  some  things  make  me  think  he  wasn't 
good." 

''  Then  tell  me  something  more  about  him." 

*'  He  tried  to  do  a  miracle  and  couldn't,"  again 
replied  the  boy. 

The  grandfather  looked  puzzled,  and  Stanley  went 
on — 

'*  Didn't  Peter  try  to  walk  on  the  sea,  and  fell  in  ?" 
— and  so  the  mixed  character  of  the  Apostle  per- 
plexed the  lad  early  in  life.  ^ 

Stanley  had  such  high  spirits  and  was  so  wailful 
that  his  mother  often  felt  anxious.  Yet  he  was  a 
thoughtful  obedient  boy,  and  the  bias  given  to  his 
mind  in  childhood  helped  to  qualify  him  for  the 
precise  work  in  the  Church  he  was  afterwards  to 
fulfil.  His  mother's  narrative  of  Robert  Moffat  in 
South  Africa,  and  other  stories,  planted  within  him 
the  germs  of  that  keen  interest  in  foreign  missions 
which  made  him  afterwards  such  an  energetic  mem- 
ber of  the  Friends'  Foreign  Mission  committee, 
and  an  efficient  helper^  of  the  Moravian  Missionary 
Society. 

He  early  learnt  that  the  spirit  of  Jesus  is  the  spirit 
of  love,  and  that  His  followers  should  not  fight  their 
enemies,  but  do  them  good.     He  one  day  picked  up 


4  Memories  of  Stanley  Pmnphrey. 

a  tea-paper  on  which  there  was  a  representation 
of  a  battle  with  the  Chinese.  He  asked  what  it 
meant,  and  was  told  that  it  was  the  English  fight- 
ing the  Chinese.  He  was  much  surprised,  and 
asked  if  it  happened  lately,  saying  that  he  had 
heard  of  the  Chinese  War  but  thought  that  it  was  a 
long  time  ago.  He  was  quite  shocked  when  he  found 
it  had  just  occurred,  and  he  ran  off  to  his  little  sister 
Helen,  exclaiming  in  horror,  *'  Helen,  dear !  the 
English  have  been  fighting  the  Chinese,  the  English 
who  have  Bibles  and  ought  to  know  better  !  Yes,  there 
has  been  a  war  in  our  time,  when  Helen  was  three 
years  old  and  I  was  hardly  five." 

'■*■  The  Bible  has  always  been  very  dear  to  me,"  he 
said,  afterwards.  ''  I  well  remember  the  joy  it  gave 
me  when  I  first  had  a  Bible  of  my  own,  the  gift  of 
<imy  precious  mother  when  I  was  six  years  old.  But 
long  before  that  it  had  been  my  delight  to  read  it, 
and  even  then  my  mind  sought  to  understand  its  mys- 
teries. 'Mamma,'  I  said,  when  one  morning  before 
I  was  dressed  I  had  been  reading  the  account  of  the 
Plagues  of  Egypt,  '  how  w^as  it  that  God  hardened 
Pharaoh's  heart  ? '  It  seemed  strange  to  me  that  the 
good  Lord  should  thus  appear  to  be  the  author  of 
evil.  Before  she  had  time  to  reply,  my  own  expla- 
nation was  ready,  and  I  felt  satisfied  that  it  was  only 
just  that  the  very  wicked  should  be  thus  dealt  with. 
The  Book  which  was  the  joy  of  my  childhood  became 
not  less  the  joy  of  my  youth,  and  no  time  w^as  to  me 
more  precious  than  the  half-hour  which  I  devoted 
every  morning  to  its  contents  and  to  prayer." 

To  his  mother  he  also  owed  that  enthusiastic  love 


Boyhood.  5 

of  the  beautiful  in  nature  and  in  art  which  made 
him  ready  both  in  boyhood  and  manhood  to  take  a 
rough  scramble  after  a  fare  flower,  or  a  long  walk 
early  in  the  morning  to  se^cure  some  longed-for  view 
across  the  landscape  at  sunrise,  or  late  at  night  along 
the  Severn  in  the  moonlight.  From  these  country 
rambles  he  would  return  home  with  his  jacket  but- 
toned round  a  bunch  of  wild  flowers  too  big  for  his 
hands  to  hold,  or  kneeling  beside  some  spring  flower 
that  he  might  admire  it  the  more  intently,  he  would 
exclaim,  ''  It  is  too  beautiful  to  pick  !  " 

At  other  times  he  would  wake  his  eldest  sister 
Lucy  early  in  the  morning,  and  they  would  be  off  to 
Berwick's  brook  before  breakfast,  hunting  for  fresh- 
water shells. 

Life  in  the  city  was  by  no  means  congenial  to  the 
lad's  natural  tastes,  but  he  was  found  busy  at  work 
with  his  sisters  sowing  grass  between  the  interstices 
of  the  flags  in  the  little  courtyard  where  they  played 
at  the  back  of  the  house,  in  order  that  they  might 
have  something  green  to  look  at,  thus  acquiring  the 
faculty  of  adapting  himself  to  his  environment,  and 
endeavouring  to  mould  his  environment  to  his  own 
taste. 

''  How  uncommonly  good  that  boy  is  to  his  little 
sister,  it  is  beautiful  to  see  how  they  love  one 
another,"  was  the  remark  of  Mary  Tanner  as  she  saw 
Stanley  at  play. 

"  I  can  remember,"  says  his  youngest  sister,  ''  how 
when  a  schoolboy  he  condescended  to  play  at  dolls 
with  us,  and  the  style  in  Avhich  he  did  it.  One  of 
my  dolls  had  incurred  my  serious  displeasure,  and 


6  Memories  of  Stanley  Piiviphrey. 

we  determined  to  kill  it.  So  first  of  all  she  was  Anne 
Askew,  and  we  tied  her  to  a  stake  and  proceeded  to 
burn  her  at  the  kitchen  fire,  but  the  fire  was  low  and 
the  process  slow,  and  we  changed  our  minds  and 
pulled  her  out  and  drowned  her,  and  then  brought 
her  to  life  again  as  Lady  Jane  Grey,  and  cut  off  her 
head.  Playing  with  dolls  became  something  exciting 
under  such  dramatizing  as  this. 

*'  Stanley  was  a  grand  story  teller.  Perched  on 
boxes,  or  sitting  in  the  summer-house,  or  on  all 
manner  of  stiles,  rails,  and  fences,  Helen  and  I  used 
to  get  splendid  stories  from  him,  sometimes  his- 
torical of  King  Alfred  or  the  martyrs,  sometimes 
good  Quaker  ones  of  William  Penn,  of  the  little 
boy  who  got  into  disgrace  by  saying  '  thou  *  to  some 
big  man  who  was  indignant  because  the  boy  did  not 
say  'you,'  sometimes  tales  such  as  Stories  for  Sum- 
mer Days  and  Winter  Nights,  sometimes  magnifi- 
cent yarns  spun  from  his  own  fancy.  On  asking 
him  to  tell  me  a  story  over  again  another  day,  he 
would  reply,  *  Oh  dear,  I  cannot,  I  made  it  up  as  I 
went  along,  and  don't  remember  a  word  of  it  now.' 

*'  Our  next-door  neighbour  was  a  bookseller,  and 
Stanley  was  a  favourite  there  as  elsewhere,  so  much 
so  that  he  used  to  slip  in  every  morning,  and  his 
halfpence  were  spent  in  pictures  and  farthing  books. 
But  it  was  not  only  little  story  books  that  he  laid 
hands  upon.  He  was  not  six  years  old  when  he 
was  found  one  day  reading  Barclay  s  Apology.  '•  I 
think  I  shall  find  these  prepositions  very  interesting,' 
he  said,  but  he  presently  found  they  were  too  much 
for  him. 


Boyhood.  7 

"  He  had  a  wonderful  love  for  William  Penn,  and 
astonished  us  very  much  one  day  by  producing  a 
little  box  he  had  obtained,  made  out  of  the  tree 
under  which  Penn  signed  his  treaty  with  the 
Indians,  exclaiming  in  boyish  glee,  *  I  value  that 
more  than  anything  else  I  have  except  my  Bible.'  " 

About  this  time  he  was  visiting  at  Hook  Norton, 
and  a  farmer  coming  in  began  to  talk  to  cousin 
Edwin  Pumphrey  about  the  weather  and  how  bad 
it  was  for  the  crops.  When  Stanley  went  to  bed 
that  night,  he  prayed  that  God  would  send  the 
right  weather  for  the  country,  adding  **  I  ask  Thee 
this,  Heavenly  Father,  because  I  know  Thou  hears 
me." 

But  he  was  not  always  grave,  sometimes  he  was 
full  of  mischief.  Being  poorly  one  day,  he  was 
doctored  with  camomile  tea,  which  he  did  not  relish, 
and  called  out  to  his  sister, 

*'  Here,  Helen,  come  and  drink  it  for  me." 

*'  That  won't  do  thee  the  good,"  she  replied. 

''  Why,  Caroline  would  do  it  for  me  in  a  minute," 
he  answered. 

**  No,  she  won't,"  said  Helen. 

*'  Caroline,  dear,"  he  called  out  in  persuasive  tones, 
''  I  have  got  such  a  lot  of  nasty  stuff  to  drink,  come 
and  help  me  like  a  nice  little  sister,  now  do  ? " 

Caroline  did  it,  of  course,  and  felt  well  repaid  by 
the  triumphant  rejoinder,  ''There!  I  knew  she 
would. " 

At  play  one  day  his  cousin  Mary  Caroline  said, 
'Til  give  anybody  sixpence  who'll  walk  along  the 
under  side  of  that  plank." 


8  Memories  of  Stanley  Pumphrey. 

"All  right,"  shouted  Stanley  at  once,  as  he  turned 
the  plank  over  and  ran  along,  exclaiming,  '*  Done  !" 

When  on  a  visit  at  Ackworth  the  same  summer, 
Stanley  was  one  day  lost.  High  and  low,  indoors 
and  out,  he  was  hunted  for  in  vain.  At  last  he  was 
found  in  one  of  the  deserted  bedrooms  reading  his 
Bible,  and  entirely  forgetful  how  time  had  been 
passing  ;  and  the  lad  was  quite  troubled  when  he 
found  the  anxiety  he  had  caused. 

He  early  betrayed  a  great  fancy  for  giving  lec- 
tures with  diverse  illustrations.  One  of  his  earliest 
efforts  of  this  kind  was  an  ambitious  attempt  at 
astronomy.  Sun,  moon,  Saturn's  ring,  and  the  con- 
stellations were  cut  out  of  paper,  and  shown  to  a  de- 
lighted but  very  select  audience,  in  a  darkened 
counting  house  ;  a  clothes-horse  serving  as  screen, 
and  a  lighted  candle  behind  producing  wonderful 
effects.  Political  lectures  followed  very  early,  and 
at  the  parliamentary  election  the  little  lad  drew 
down  the  front  blinds  of  the  house  because  his  can- 
didate did  not  get  in. 

He  lost  his  mother  when  he  was  eight  years  old. 
This  made  a  deep  impression  on  him,  and  though  it 
is  difficult  to  point  accurately  to  the  time  of  his  con- 
version, he  thencefonvard  was  more  decidedly  a 
Christian  boy,  and  became  increasingly  susceptible 
to  the  influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

About  the  same  time,  he  was  placed  at  a  boarding 
school  at  Charlbury,  and  was  known  as  a  thoughtful, 
conscientious  boy,  singularly  guarded  in  his  conduct. 
His  uncle  John  M.  Albright  resided  at  Charlbury, 
and  his  sisters  were  frequent  visitors  there.    Splendid 


Boyhood.  g 

rambles  in  the  woods  and  through  the  forest,  were 
the  delight  of  those  early  days.  Of  course  everything 
in  the  way  of  natural  history  interested  the  children, 
such  as  hunting  in  quarries  for  the  fossils  of  the 
oolite,  and  expeditions  to  Stonesfield,  where  coppers 
were  eagerly  exchanged  with  old  quarrymen  for 
sharks'  teeth  and  fossil  shells.  Once  when  the  party 
were  caught  in  a  heavy  shower  of  rain,  Stanley  and 
his  sisters  found  refuge  in  the  overhanging  quarry, 
and  there  beguiled  the  time  with  never-failing  stories 
and  poetry. 

*'  Hail  to  the  chief  who  in  triumph  advances,'* 

was  Stanley's  selection  for  the  occasion,  the  ringing 
chorus  echoing  through  the  quarry,  no  one  enjoying 
it  more  than  himself. 

**Say  it  again,"  exclaimed  his  little  sister. 

*' What's  the  good  ?"  he  answered,  "thou  cannot 
understand  a  word  of  it." 

**Oh  never  mind  that,"  replied  the  child,  ''it 
sounds  splendid." 

He  would  often  act  the  teacher,  and  was  fond  of 
giving  lessons.  Were  there  ever  more  charming 
children's  lessons  than  his  ?  Was  it  history  ?  He 
must  have  the  map  to  see  how  King  Charles  rode 
from  Worcester,  via  Leominster  to  Boscobel.  Was  it 
geography  ?  It  was  not  to  be  expected  that  a  child 
could  remember  a  hard  list  of  names,  but  Worms, 
Spires,  and  the  Wartburg  became  living  places  when 
the  story  of  Luther  was  woven  in  with  them. 

He  had  early  joined  the  Juvenile  Temperance 
Society,  and  one  of  his  earliest  efforts  at  lecturing 


lo  Memories  of  Stanley  Piimphrey. 

was  in  advocacy  of  its  claims.  He  gave  a  Temper- 
ance Lecture  at  Charlbury  school,  which  was  so 
convincing  to  his  playmates  that,  with  one  excep- 
tion, they  all  signed  the  temperance  pledge.X 

He  greatly  reverenced  the  men  who  had  laboured 
for  the  abolition  of  slavery,  and  felt  it  quite  an 
honour  to  shake  hands  with  Joseph  Sturge,  who  was 
attending  a  meeting  against  capital  punishment. 

It  was  but  little  pocket  money  the  lad  was  allowed 
in  those  days,  and  when  he  had  once  at  school  been 
betrayed  into  spending  it  in  pear-drops  and  acid- 
drops,  he  wrote  home  humbly  to  his  father,  hoping 
that  he  should  never  be  so  foolish  again  as  to  spend 
it  on  "  such  trash." 

At  the  age  of  twelve,  he  was  sent  to  Ackworth 
School,  where  his  uncle  Thomas  Pumphrey  was  then 
superintendent.  He  was  afterwards  a  pupil  at  20, 
Bootham,  York,  under  the  care  of  John  Ford.  On 
his  arrival  at  York,  Fielden  Thorp  examined  the 
new  boys  in  reading,  to  judge  where  to  place  them 
in  class.  One  boy  read  hesitatingly,  another  stum- 
blingly,  but  young  Stanley  '■'■  electrified  "  his  teacher 
by  the  oratorical  power  he  threw  into  his  reading  ; 
*'  he  read  it  as  it  ought  to  be  read,  read  it  well,  and 
knew  he  did." 

j  He  here  became  passionately  fond  of  poetry,  and 
developed  those  qualities  which  in  after  life  made 
;him  the  vigorous  botanist  and  the  helpful  art  critic. 
He  set  his  face  against  wrong-doing,  and  energeti- 
cally exerted  himself  to  put  a  stop  to  bad  language  in 
the  school.  The  ministry  of  James  Backhouse  at 
York  was  much  blessed  to  him.     James  Backhouse 


Boyhood.  1 1 

had  returned  from  his  long  missionary  labours  in 
South  Africa,  Australia,  and  Van  Dieman's  Land,  and 
Stanley  reverenced  him  greatly.  When  the  veteran 
had  been  laid  aside  with  a  dangerous  illness,  the 
schoolboy  prayed  that  his  life  might  be  spared  for 
another  fifteen  years  ;  and  fifteen  years  afterwards 
Stanley  Pumphrey  was  able  to  publicly  acknowledge 
how  fully  and  exactly  the  Lord  had  answered  that 
prayer. 

In  the  First  Month  of  1852  Stanley  w^as  placed 
in  the  first  class  in  French,  and  in  Till  Adam 
Smith's  German  Class.  At  this  time  he  was  dili- 
gently reading  the  Life  of  Sir  Thomas  Fowell  Buxton. 
He  was  anxious  to  learn  Greek,  but  his  father  put  a 
veto  on  it  for  a  time.  The  same  month  the  boys  at- 
tended a  lecture  by  Elihu  Burritt  on  Ocean  Penny 
Postage. 

Stanley  was  also  at  work  on  botany,  and  in  the 
Second  Month  records  with  satisfaction  that  he  had 
two  hundred  and  nine  specimens,  and  that  Samuel 
Capper  and  Katharine  Backhouse  paid  a  religious 
visit  to  the  school.  On  the  i6th  occurs  the  follow- 
ing entry  in  his  journal,  ''  The  committee  for  visit- 
ing schools  was  here  this  evening.  After  John  Ford 
had  read  the  28th  Psalm,  Josiah  Forster  addressed 
us.  He  was  followed  by  John  Allen,  and  then  John 
Pease  offered  one  of  the  most  beautiful  prayers  I 
ever  heard.  It  w^as  a  delightful  and  I  hope  a  profit- 
able occasion." 

Under  date  Fourth  Month,  24th,  he  records  another 
school  incident,  ''Soon  after  ten  started  on  a  walk 
to  Acomb.     Joseph  Rowntree  took  a  leap,  and  broke 


12  Memories  of  Stanley  Piimphrey. 

the  two  bones  of  his  leg.  The  leap  was  twenty-one 
feet  long,  and  eight  feet  descent !  " 

The  next  month  he  enters  another  visit  to  *'  Joe's 
leap." 

On  Fourth  Month,  25th,  he  writes,  ''Woke  at  seven 
minutes  past  six  a.m.,  and  read  the  Life  of  Zwingle, 
and  part  of  the  Life  of  Calvin.'' ' 

"  Fifth  month,  31st. — I  wrote  a  letter  to  Willie,  at- 
tempting to  comfort  him  on  the  death  of  his  brother. 
I  felt  a  little  of  the  love  of  God  in  my  heart.  I  re- 
ceived an  answer  from  him  full  of  faith  about  the  loss 
of  his  brother.  In  the  evening,  John  Ford  gave  us 
an  account  of  the  London  Yearly  Meeting,  and  con- 
cluded with  a  solemn  exhortation  on  the  duty  of 
prayer.  In  bed  the  Almighty  was  pleased  to  fill  my 
heart  w^th  His  love,  and  I  prayed  earnestly  for  my- 
self and  my  beloved  schoolfellow  Willie." 

"  Sixth  Month,  ist. — Woke  early,  and  offered  up 
my  heart  to  my  Maker  in  thanksgiving  and  prayer. 
May  he  keep  me  near  Him,  and  enable  me  not  to  slip 
from  the  path  He  has  opened  for  me.  Llis  love  sur- 
rounded nie  through  the  day.  '  Bless  the  Lord,  O  my 
soul,  and  all  that  is  within  me  bless  His  holy  name.'  " 

"■  Sixth  Month,  3rd. — After  breakfast  the  Parable 
of  the  Sower  was  read  to  us.  I  felt  a  fear  that  I 
might  be  like  the  seed  cast  on  stony  ground,  which 
is  compared  to  those  who  at  first  received  the  word 
w4th  joy,  but  when  trials  and  temptations  come, 
they  quickly  wither  away.  Oh  Heavenly  Father,  be 
pleased  to  make  me  like  the  seed  sown  in  good 
ground,  and  enable  me  to  bring  forth  fruit  to  Thy 
glory." 


Boyhood,  13 

The  next  day  he  says,  **  In  the  evening  I  got  into 
a  passion  about  a  little  trifle  ;  but  I  believe  the  sun 
did  not  go  down  upon  my  wrath,  and  I  trust  I  found 
forgiveness  for  my  sin." 

On  the  following  Sabbath  he  woke  early,  and 
prayed  especially  that  he  might  have  "good  meet- 
ings." "  In  the  morning  meeting  I  was  enabled  to 
turn  my  thoughts  heavenward  most  of  the  time,  but 
I  found  it  very  difficult  to  keep  my  thoughts  from 
straying.  James  Backhouse  gave  us  an  excellent 
sermon  on  the  necessity  of  approaching  God  in  the 
name  of  Jesus.  After  dinner  I  walked  about  with 
Willie  in  pursuance  of  our  intention  to  talk  together 
on  religious  subjects.  My  heart  was  full  and  I  could 
hardly  speak,  but  at  last  I  told  him  that  the  Lord 
had  been  very  good  to  me  in  the  week,  Willie  also 
said  that  the  Lord  had  been  very  good  to  him." 

*'  Sixth  Month,  8th. — In  the  evening  I  knelt  down 
and  offered  up  a  prayer  to  God  which  I  trust  was 
accepted." 

"Sixth  Month,  12th. — I  received  twelve  shillings 
in  prizes  to-day  and  fear  I  am  rather  elated  about  it. 
O  Heavenly  Father,  be  pleased  to  help  me  for  Jesus' 
sake  ! " 

''  Sixth  Month,  13th.— I  walked  with  Willie  after 
dinner,  and  after  a  long  silence  I  confessed  to  him 
that  I  had  advanced  but  little,  if  I  had  not  indeed 
gone  back  in  my  heavenward  journey.  He  after- 
wards spoke,  and  then  I  offered  up  a  short  verbal 
prayer  for  us  both.  O  Gracious  God,  be  pleased  to* 
preserve  me  in  the  right  path,  and  enable  me  to  love 
Thee  more  and  serve  Thee  better  than  I  have  done! " 


CHAPTER   II. 


APPRENTICESHIP. 


At  the  age  of  sixteen  Stanley  Pumphrey  was  ap- 
prenticed to  William  Sparkes,  ironmonger,  High 
Street,  Worcester,  and  won  esteem  by  thorough  at- 
tention to  his  master's  business.  He  was  very  con- 
scientious. There  were  many  unseen  tumults  tossing 
within  his  soul,  but  the  good  was  conquering  the  evil. 

The  verger  of  Worcester  Cathedral  one  day  polite- 
ly requested  him  to  take  off  his  hat  on  entering  its 
''holy"  precincts,  and  was  rather  astonished  to  re- 
ceive in  reply  a  pretty  free  dissertation  against  the 
superstitious  consecration  of  churches,  and  the  sup- 
posed holiness  of  piles  of  masonry. 

The  evenings  were  often  spent  at  home  with  his 
father  and  sisters,  and  thus  was  avoided  the  isolation 
from  home  that  falls  to  the  lot  of  many  apprentices. 
"  The  most  pure  and  gentle  life  "  of  his  beloved  sis- 
ter Helen  was  one  of  the  powerful  influences  for 
good  that  moulded  his  character.  The  Sabbath 
evenings  were  mostly  spent  in  reading  with  her  ;  but 
often  the  book  would  be  dropped,  while  the  two 
.young  sisters  he  delighted  to  teach,  listened  wdth 
eager  interest  to  his  narratives  of  things  he  had  seen 
and    heard,  and    the  earnest   thoughts  which  made 


Apprenticeship,  1 5 

them  think,  even  as  children,  '*  Our  boy  will  cer- 
tainly become  a  preacher." 

But  there  was  another  ''pure  and  gentle  life"  that 
was  now  moulding  his  career,  and  filling  him  with  a 
holy  enthusiasm  for  right  doing.  The  young  man's 
romantic  account  of  his  first  attachment  may  stand 
in  his  own  words. 

"  Just  after  I  left  school  I  first  met  with  Ellen 
Horsnaill,  the  sister  of  two  amiable  companions  of 
mine  at  Charlbury  School,  herself  then  a  scholar  at 
my  aunt  Lucy  Westcombe's.  It  was  an  evening 
party,  and  I  at  once  remarked  her  as  the  loveliest  of 
the  group,  her  features  beautifully  formed,  her  com- 
plexion perfect,  her  golden  hair  falling  in  curls  over 
her  shoulders.  It  is  not  only  I  wdio  pronounce  her 
beautiful,  or  my  testimony  might  be  suspected,  for 
as  Dante  of  Beatrice  (a  name  under  which  I  have 
often  been  accustomed  fondly  to  think  of  her)  I 
should  say  that  she  was  far  lovelier  than  any  other  I 
have  met.  I  sat  down  beside  her,  and  talked  of  her 
brothers  whom  I  had  loved,  and  as  she  spoke  her 
features  beamed  more  radiantly,  and  her  smile 
seemed  something  too  beautiful  for  earth.  When  I 
lighted  the  company  in  the  passage  as  they  parted, 
she  was  the  only  one  who  extended  her  hand  to  me, 
and  then  I  felt  that  I  had  indeed  loved  her.  The 
Sabbath,  too,  seemed  more  blessed,  because  I  then 
always  saw  her.  As  I  sat  in  meeting  my  eye  would 
continually  turn  towards  her,  and  my  worship  was 
often  interrupted  to  bestow  upon  her  the  blessing  of 
my  soul.  In  my  most  serious  moments  I  trembled, 
as  I   thought   she   usurped  too   large  a  place  in  my 


l6  Memories  of  Stanley  Pumphrey . 

affections,  and  I  asked  myself  whether  I  did  not 
really  love  her  more  than  God. 

*'  Thus  time  passed  over,  and  I  was  unconscious 
whether  my  love  was  returned  or  no,  when  one 
morning  in  meeting,  after  I  had  been  more  than 
usually  earnest  in  prayer  for  her,  I  looked  towards 
her  and  found  her  eye  steadily  fixed  on  me.  Mine 
I  withdrew,  but  instinctively  looked  again,  and  still 
that  sweet,  mild  glance  was  turned  towards  mine. 
That  glance  was  long  the  best  assurance  I  had  of  her 
answering  affection,  and  he  who  is  not  a  lover  cannot 
know  the  comfort  it  was  to  me.  At  last  the  time 
drew  near  that  she  should  finally  leave  Worcester, 
and  I  well  remember  the  emotion  I  felt  in  that  even- 
ing meeting,  the  last  in  which  I  could  expect,  for  a 
long  season,  to  behold  her  face.  Our  evening  meet- 
ings generally  were  silent,  but  twice  in  the  solemn 
worship  of  that  summer's  eve  the  warning  was  ut- 
tered by  the  preacher  to  keep  from  idolatry.  I  felt 
that  the  rebuke  w^as  due. 

''The  next  time  I  met  her  was  during  my  summer 
vacation  in  1856,  w^hen  I  was  welcomed  to  her 
father's  house  as  her  brother  Cleverley's  visitor, 
though  I  need  not  say  there  was  one  whom  I  was 
much  more  solicitous  to  see.  I  spent  four  or  five 
very  happy  days  with  them,  and  the  beautiful  scenery 
which  I  saw  in  her  company  round  Rochester  is  still 
vividly  before  my  mind.  Independently  of  the 
special  charm  that  household  has  for  me,  it  is  a 
delightful  one  to  visit.  Seldom  have  I  felt  so  strik- 
ingly the  governing  principle  of  love,  seldom  have  I 
been  more  impressed  than  I  was  in  William  Hors- 


Apprenticeship,  17 

naill  with  the  beauty  of  the  Christian  character,  for 
I  know  no  one  in  whom  Christianity  more  delight- 
fully pervades  the  every  act  of  life. 

"  The  three  meetings  I  attended  there,  were  mem- 
orable ones,  though  there  was  not  a  w^ord  of  vocal 
ministry.  In  the  first  I  felt  as  I  had  never  felt  before 
what  it  is  to  have  fellowship  with  the  Father.  In 
the  second  I  was  shown  that  it  was  still  possible  that 
I  might  fall  away,  and  the  awful  consequences  were 
set  before  me  of  so  doing  after  having  tasted  the 
good  Word  of  Grace.  The  third  was  a  time  of  con- 
flict, for  I  was  much  discouraged  at  not  having  re- 
ceived some  surer  evidence  of  my  Ellen's  love,  but 
the  cloud  was  at  last  dispelled,  and  if  ever  God  made 
a  promise  to  me.  He  promised  then  that  my  beloved 
one  should  be  mine.  This  has  often  been  an  un- 
speakable comfort  to  me,  for  more  than  ever  I  can 
now  regard  her  as  a  gift  of  His. 

''  I  met  her  next  at  Worcester,  where  she  came 
on  a  visit  in  the  Spring.  It  filled  me  with  joy  to 
meet  her  again,  and  those  whom  I  met  wondered 
why  I  looked  so  happy.  I  passed  several  delightful 
intervals  in  her  society,  and  received  from  her  some 
few  assuring  words.  Her  presence  urged  me  to 
complete  some  verses  of  poetry  which  I  had  long 
had  in  hand,  for  I  was  anxious  that  she  should  be 
among  the  first  to  hear  them.  When  I  produced  the 
manuscript,  I  did  not  say  whose  it  was,  but  my  sis- 
ters suspected  it  was  mine.  After  I  had  recited  it, 
they  changed  their  minds,  but  in  her  quiet  look  of 
pleasure,  and  I  thought  of  pride,  I  read  a  different 
verdict,  and  judged,  that  as  w^as  fitting,  my  beloved 


1 8  Memories  of  Stanley  Ptintphrey, 

one  had  thought  most  worthily  of  me.  I  am  assured 
that  her  heart  is  true  to  me  as  mine  to  her,  and  that 
God  is  preparing  us  to  enjoy  together  the  voyage  of 
life.  I  do  not  love  her  so  passionately  as  I  once  did, 
because,  blessed  be  God,  my  heart  is  more  firmly 
centred  where  it  ought  to  be,  so  that  I  could  answer 
unhesitatingly  the  question  that  troubled  me  in  days 
gone  by,  and  feel  that  through  His  grace  I  could 
give  her  up  if  she  stood  in  the  way  of  my  service 
unto  Him.  But  I  believe  that  in  great  kindness  He 
has  ordered  differently,  and  that  she  shall  be  my 
own,  and  it  is  my  frequent  prayer  that  we  may  be 
prepared  one  for  another,  to  serve  the  Lord  together 
all  the  days  of  our  life,  our  strongest  bond  of  union 
being  our  mutual  love  for  God  and  our  Saviour.  I 
would  further  acknowledge  that  I  believe  her  in- 
fluence over  me  in  youth  was  extremely  valuable.  I 
could  not  at  the  same  time  delight  in  sinful  and  un- 
worthy things  and  love  her  whom  I  pictured  to  my- 
self as  the  very  ideal  of  all  that  in  woman  is  pure  and 
lovely." 

In  the  foregoing,  Stanley  Pumphrey  alludes  to  his 
efforts  at  poetical  composition.  There  is  a  time  in 
most  men's  lives  when  they  incline  to  be  poets,  be- 
fore the  sternly  practical  battle  of  life  sets  in  upon 
them  with  absorbing  force,  and  as  the  days  of  poetry 
with  Stanley  were  the  days  of  early  manhood,  it  may 
be  well  here  to  insert  one  of  his  poetic  efforts. 
When  his  whole  life  became  a  poem  to  the  praise  of 
God,  it  was  by  firm  allegiance  to  the  will  of  His 
Master  that  he  realised  the  higher  harmonies  of 
heaven. 


Apprenticeship.  19 

If  to  thee  there  has  ought  been  given 

Of  knowledge,  or  wisdom,  truth,  or  love, — 

And  if  for  thee  the  founts  of  heaven 
Have  been  opened  from  above  ; 

Not  for  thyself  is  the  gift  imparted ; 

Thy  love  is  given  for  the  weary-hearted, 

Thy  knowledge  that  others  may  also  know, 

Thy  wisdom  to  guide  them  as  they  go, 
Thy  truth  to  make  them  free. 

Give  thou  then  with  unsparing  hand 

The  wealth  of  thy  mind  or  soul, 
Sow  thy  seed  broad-cast  o'er  the  land. 

Let  thy  bounty  know  no  control. 
The  truth  that  thou  givest  shall  still  be  thine. 
Thou  as  a  star  on  high  shalt  shine, 
The  joy  is  thine  of  enforcing  right, 
Some  soul  through  thy  words  may  receive  the  light, 

And  reflect  it  back  to  thee. 

Of  light  and  heat  does  the  generous  sun 

Pour  forth  its  unchecked  supply  ; 
Freely  the  rivers  onward,  run, 

Nor  fear  lest  their  fount  be  dry. 
Nature  doth  freely  her  bounty  bestow, 
Her  treasures  she  yields  in  perennial  flow  j 
And  God  for  ever  upon  thy  head 
Showers  blessings  and  gifts  unlimited. 

And  He  bids  thee  resemble  Him. 

He  was  reading  early  and  late  in  his  leisure  time, 
and  gathered  round  him  a  choice  selection  of  the 
best  authors.  He  was  careful  Avhat  he  read  ;  and 
one  of  his  books  of  poetry  had  the  doubtful  passages 
carefully  cut  out  and  other  objectionable  stanzas 
pasted  over,  so  that  his  sisters  might  be  able  to  en- 
joy the    book    with   him    without  offending  their 


20  Memories  of  Stanley  Pumphrey. 

modesty.  Sometimes  he  undertook  a  special  course 
of  study  to  prepare  lectures  for  drawing-room 
audiences  on  Dante,  Pascal,  Chrysostom,  and  other 
congenial  subjects.  lie  also  devoted  much  care  to 
the  preparation  of  an  Essay  on  The  Causes  of  the  Nu- 
merical Decline  in  the  Society  of  Friends,  Much  to  his 
disappointment  his  essay  did  not  win  the  prize  of 
one  hundred  guineas,  but  the  effort  undoubtedly  was 
a  boon  to  him  and  called  forth  an  amount  of  definite 
thought  respecting  the  w^elfare  of  the  Society  of 
Friends  which  became  fruitful  for  good. 

Jn  reviewing  this  essay  and  observing  the  reflec- 
tion it  gives  of  the  state  of  Friends  when  written,  it 
is  cheering  to  note  that  however  many  faults  may 
still  cling  to  the  Society,  it  is  not  now  bemoaning 
causes  of  decline,  but  year  by  year  reporting  an  in- 
creased membership,  and  engaged  in  many  districts 
in  active  and  successful  aggressive  work.  The  line 
of  thought  Stanley  Pumphrey  takes  may  be  epitom- 
ized by  the  headings  of  the  chapters,  w4th  a  few  ex- 
tracts representing  his  style  as  an  author.  Com- 
mencing with  a  discourse  on  *'  Disownments  "  for 
marriage,  he  proceeds  to  the  disadvantages  of 
** Celibacy,"  and  the  dangers  of  ''Schism."  Then 
follow  chapters  on  the  ''  Peculiarities  "  of  dress  and 
address  at  that  time  in  vogue  among  Friends,  the 
*'  Spirit  of  the  w^orld,"  the  ''Want  of  religious  over- 
sight and  intercourse,"  the  "  Spirit  of  exclusiveness," 
concluding  by  a  chapter  on  the  "Absence  of  the 
proselyting  spirit." 

The  "  Introduction  "  runs  after  this  fashion.  *'  A 
little  colony  upon  a    newly-peopled  shore  parted 


Apprenticeship.  21 

from  their  fellows  and  went  farther  ahead  into  the 
forest  until  they  reached  a  broad  well-watered  valley 
where  the  strength  of  the  vegetation  betokened  a 
fertile  soil.  Here  they  settled.  They  cleared  the 
woods  and  drained  the  marshes.  They  planted,  they 
builded.  The  gifts  of  nature  were  poured  upon 
them  richly  from  the  horn  of  increase,  and  when  the 
vintage  and  the  harvest  were  gathered  in,  they  found 
that  they  had  enough  and  to  spare.  Then  they  sent 
to  their  former  companions,  telling  them  the  ad- 
vantages of  the  spot  and  asking  them  to  come  and 
share  in  their  abundance.  With  more  labourers  the 
valley  became  more  productive  and  more  beautiful, 
and  they  prospered  exceedingly.  But  in  the  course 
of  time  selfishness  crept  in,  whispering  '  Why  ask 
more  strangers  ? — Keep  the  land  yourselves,  there  is 
none  too  much  for  you  and  your  children.'  So  the 
invitations  became  fewer  and  more  cold.  Quarrels, 
moreover,  the  invariable  attendants  of  selfishness, 
broke  out  amongst  them.  Some  were  driven  away, 
and  the  remainder,  like  Abraham  and  Lot,  parted, 
one  division  going  to  the  right-hand  and  the  other 
to  the  left.  Division  is  weakness.  A  curse  seemed 
now  to  rest  upon  the  settlers.  They  became  listless 
and  indolent,  and  it  was  in  vain  for  them  that  the 
land  was  as  the  garden  of  the  Lord.  The  forest  re- 
gained dominion,  and  the  dank  jungle  again 
obscured  the  sparkling  stream.  Corresponding 
causes  produce  analogous  results  in  Christian 
churches." 

Respecting  celibacy  Stanley  Pumphrey  observes, 
"  Marriage  is  the  condition  naturally  designed   for 


22  Memories  of  Stanley  Pumphrey, 

man.  It  is  the  ordinance  of  God,  and  like  every 
thing  else  that  He  has  ordained,  is  fraught  with  good. 
To  provide  for  us  one  faithful  friend,  who  sharing 
the  joys  and  sorrows  of  life  should  enhance  the  one 
and  mitigate  the  other,  to  retain  for  us  one  heart  for 
ever  true  though  all  others  turn  aside,  whose  contin- 
ual love  should  ever  refresh  us  and  be  as  the  unfail- 
ing fountain  in  the  desert,  to  whom  we  might  open 
all  our  sorrows,  and  whose  sympathy  might  soothe 
where  it  could  not  heal,  with  whom  we  might  take 
sweet  counsel  concerning  the  things  of  God,  and  bow 
in  union  before  His  throne  ;  such  are  the  blessings 
a  beneficent  Father  intended  should  be  ours,  when 
seeing  that  it  was  not  good  for  man  to  be  alone.  He 
provided  in  His  mercy  an  help  meet  for  him.  Some, 
dwelling  upon  the  cares  of  married  life  rather  than 
its  joys,  are  anxious  to  escape  them  ;  others,  again, 
consider  that  the  expenses  of  married  life  would  be 
more  than  they  could  bear.  The  first  should  learn 
that  the  pride  which  leads  a  young  man  to  be  ashamed 
of  beginning  life  more  simply  than  his  father  ends 
it,  is  a  false  pride  that  can  never  promote  his  happi- 
:ness.  The  latter  should  be  content  to  live  moder- 
ately, and  cultivate  faith  in  God.  God  does  not  give 
children  to  His  servants  without  also  providing  for 
their  maintenance  ;  even  as  David  could  testify  after 
the  experience  of  a  lengthened  life,  that  he  had  never 
seen  the  seed  of  the  righteous  begging  bread.  God 
teaches  us  to  regard  children  not  as  objects  for 
harassing  anxiety,  but  as  blessings  from  His  hand. 
Children,  he  tells  us,  are  4iis  reward,'  and  'happy,' 
responds  the  Psalmist,  *  is  the  man  who  has  his  quiver 


Essay.  23 

full  of  them.'  He  who  imparts  life  can  much  more 
maintain  it.  He  who  feeds  the  ravens  and  adorns 
the  lilies,  will  give  thee  food  and  clothing.  Want  of 
faith,  and  the  desire  to  maintain  what  is  generally- 
regarded  as  a  respectable  sta,tion  in  society,  are  the 
probable  causes  of  the  comparative  rarity  of  mar- 
riage." 

In  connection  with  "religious  reticence"  the  fol- 
lowing incident  occurs,  culled  from  his  own  life. 
**  Some  years  ago  two  young  men  who  were  upon  a 
pleasure  excursion,  stopped  to  attend  one  of  the 
Quarterly  Meetings  of  the  Friends.  They  came  from 
distant  parts  of  the  country,  and  were  entire  strangers 
to  every  resident  in  the  town,  but  according  to  the 
usages  of  the  Society'  they  were  w^elcomed  with 
warmth  and  hospitality.  It  was  one  of  those  beauti- 
ful summer  mornings  when  all  things  appear  serene 
and  lovely,  and  when,  as  far  as  nature  can  thus  in- 
fluence us,  the  heart  is  disposed  to  peace  and  good- 
v/ill.  All  whom  they  met  seemed  animated  by  those 
happy  virtues,  many  greeted  them  with  words  of 
kindness,  and  in  the  solemn  pause  that  followed  the 
morning  reading  of  the  Bible,  a  minister  addressed 
an  exhortatibn  specially  to  them.  As  they  afterwards 
w^andered  forth  into  the  garden  one  of  them  felt  that 
that  morning  would  not  be  soon  forgotten,  and  that 
more  earnest  desires  had  been  awakened  in  his  soul 
to  be  found  standing  on  the  Lord's  side.  Yet  it  was 
not  the  beauty  of  the  summer  morning  that  had 
touched  his  heart,  nor  the  kindness  of  the  Friends, 
nor  the  words  that  the  minister  had  addressed  to  them 
in  the  presence  of  the  company,  but  because  at  part- 


24  MeiJiorics  of  Stanley  Pumphrey. 

ing  an  aged  pilgrim  had  warmly  pressed  the  hands 
of  himself  and  his  companion,  and  expressed  with  a 
fervour  that  evidenced  the  depth  of  her  emotion,  the 
hope  that  they  would  be  'faithful  followers  of  a 
Crucified  Lord.*  The  tear  started  to  the  eye,  utter- 
ance was  choked  as  he  attempted  to  reply,  but  from' 
that  time  to  this  the  hope  of  that  venerable  Christian 
has  been  the  earnest  and  unremitting  longing  of  that 
young  man's  soul." 

Again,  respecting  the  contrast  between  the  work 
of  faith  and  the  life  of  self-trust,  he  writes,  ''Wearied 
with  the  indolence  of  the  cloister,  a  company  of 
monks  went  forth  to  convert  the  heathen.  They 
were  vigorous  men  who  seemed  capable  of  enduring 
any  inclemency,  and  skilful,  for  they  had  never  been 
worsted  in  controversy.  They  were  also  numerous, 
and  they  deemed  that  their  numbers  gave  them 
strength.  The  language  was  quickly  mastered,  and 
they  preached  eloquently  the  truths  they  had  trav- 
elled to  impart.  Yet  few  received  their  doctrine, 
many  persecuted  them,  and  often  the  missionaries 
suffered  hunger,  nakedness,  and  cold.  Disease  broke 
out  among  them,  and  one  by  one  the  members  of  the 
company  were  carried  to  the  grave.  Two  only  were 
left,  and  one  of  them  was  at  the  point  of  death.  As 
his  companion  anxiously  watched  beside  him,  a  gleam 
passed  over  the  sufferer's  countenance,  and  the 
mourner  bent  to  receive  his  parting  words.  '  My 
brother,'  said  the  dying  man,  '  we  have  trusted  in 
ourselves,  but  although  you  are  left  alone,  God  loves 
you,  and  He  will  bless  you.' 

*'  From  the  grave  of  his  departed  friend  the  sur- 


Essay.  25 

vivor  turned  into  the  woods  to  meditate  upon  his 
words.  His  emotions  could  find  no  utterance  but 
in  prayer.  He  knelt  down  and  poured  forth  the 
anguish  of  his  soul  to  God.  Earnestly  he  wrestled 
in  spirit,  and  implored  the  divine  aid  and  blessing, 
when  it  seemed  as  if  some  one  touched  him,  bidding 
him  rise,  and  telling  him  he  had  come  to  help  him. 
The  two  went  forth  together  to  the  heathen  camps, 
and  wherever  the  mysterious  stranger  appeared  the 
people  flocked  around  him,  wept  as  they  heard  his 
beautiful  words,  believed,  and  were  converted. 

''  In  the  morning  he  had  disappeared,  and  the 
missionary  remembered  how  in  his  vision  a  light  had 
seemed  to  surround  him,  and  a  voice  had  said,  '  Even 
as  I  have  been  with  thee  now,  so  in  spirit  am  I  with 
thee  always  ;  trust  only  in  Me.'  " 

*'  Look  not  to  man  in  the  work,"  said  George  Fox, 
"  nor  to  man  who  opposeth  the  work,  but  rest  in  the 
will  of  the  Lord." 

One  more  extract  must  suffice,  affording  a  picture 
of  the  state  of  the  Society  of  Friends  in  some  districts 
at  the  time  it  was  written. 

*'  Crossing  the  bleak  and  uncultivated  Radnor 
Forest,  about  ten  miles  east  of  the  picturesque  falls 
of  the  Wye  at  Rhayader,  the  traveller  may  see  high 
up  on  the  mountain  a  lone  Meeting  House  of  the  So- 
ciety of  Friends.  Within  the  memory  of  many  there 
was  here  a  flourishing  congregation.  Now  the  meet- 
ing can  hardly  be  said  to  exist.  One  infirm,  lame  old 
man,  disowned  by  the  Society  on  account  of  marry- 
ing a  non-member,  still  crosses  the  hills  at  the  hour 
of  worship  to  sit  there  alone  with  God.  Where,  we 
2 


26  Memories  of  Stanley  Pumphrey. 

naturally  enquire,  are  the  descendants  of  those  sim- 
ple mountaineers  who  here  worshipped  in  spirit  and 
in  truth,  and  realised  the  privilege  of  the  child  of 
God  being  taught  of  the  Father  ?  " 

Thank  God  we  can  now  give  an  answer  to  this 
question.  The  Spirit  of  God  has  been  poured  forth 
afresh  on  the  people  in  those  Radnorshire  valleys. 
Many  of  them  have  been  converted  through  the 
ministry  of  Friends,  and  the  little  congregation, 
that  when  Stanley  Pumphrey  penned  these  lines 
was  flickering  and  ready  to  die,  has  now  forty  mem- 
bers, besides  many  attenders,  and  many  of  these 
members  are  taking  an  active  part  in  the  service 
of  the  church. 

Stanley  Pumphrey  would  gladly,  at  this  time, 
have  devoted  himself  to  literature  rather  than  trade. 
In  the  earlier  part  of  his  apprenticeship  he  was  too 
much  inclined  to  consider  the  common  duties  of 
business  life  as  drudgery.  His  father's  high-toned 
example,  shrewd  counsel  and  common  sense,  helped, 
however,  to  maintain  the  balance  for  his  somewhat 
ambitious  son,  and  Stanley  readily  accepted  the  ju- 
(dicious  advice  given  him  to  remain  awhile  in  busi- 
;  ness,  and  undoubtedly  reaped  benefit  from  the  prac- 
itical  training  and  acquaintance  with  life  which  he 
ithus  received. 

An  old  Wesleyan  minister,  then  living  in  Worces- 
ter, greatly  helped  the  ironmonger's  apprentice  with 
wise  counsel.  Able  to  sympathise  with  the  spiritual 
yearnings  of  the  young  man,  Stanley  found  the  pas- 
toral care  of  the  old  man  very  valuable.  To  him  the 
young  man  opened  his  heart,  and  while  the  Wesleyan 


Apprenticeship.  2/ 

made  no  attempt  to  proselyte,  he  rendered  service 
never  to  be  forgotten. 

Not  only  was  Stanley  Pumphrey  turning  his  atten- 
tion to  literature,  enriching  himself  with  Milton's 
i  Prose  Works,  and  other  standard  authors,  but  there 
W'as  welling  up  in  his  heart  a  ''  call,"  more  and  more 
distinct,  to  become  a  minister  of  the  Everlasting 
.Gospel.  As  a  member  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  he 
had  been  trained  from  childhood  to  attend  their 
meetings,  in  which  there  is  no  humanly  appointed 
minister  or  pastor,  but  where  there  is  the  "  liberty  of 
prophesying,"  for  all  who  are  moved  thereto  by  the 
Spirit  of  God. 

Before  Stanley  ever  opened  his  mouth  in  the  min- 
istry he  earnestly  prayed  that  God  would  bestow  the 
gift  upon  him,  and  there  were  many  thoughts  towards 
it  stirring  deeply  within  him,  to  which  he  thus  gives 
expression:  — 

'*We  need  faithful  and  earnest  labourers  w^ho  shall 
not  fear  discouragement,  but  shall  go  forth  to  the 
conflict  in  that  trust  which  animated  Jonathan  when, 
single-handed,  he  withstood  the  host  of  the  Philis- 
tines in  the  assured  conviction  that  with  his  God 
there  was  no  restraint  to  save  by  many  or  by  few. 
In  this  field  I  believe  that,  unworthy  as  I  am,  I  shall 
be  called  to  labour.  By  the  mouth  of  one  of  his 
servants  the  Lord  has  promised  that  He  \n\\  bless 
me,  that  He  will  make  me  a  blessing  unto  others, 
and  will  enable  me  to  confess  His  name.  Even  now 
already  I  have  felt  the  call,  but  I  have  shrunk  back 
in  fear.  If  talents  have  been  bestowed  upon  me, 
time  and  opportunity  will  be  added  for  their  exercise, 


28  MejHories  of  St  an  ley  Pumphrey. 

and  if  called  to  labour,  my  prayers  ascend  to  that 
*  Holy  Spirit  who  is  able  to  enrich  with  all  utterance 
and  knowledge,  and  sends  forth  his  seraphim  with 
the  hallowed  fire  of  his  altar  to  touch  and  sanctify 
the  lips  of  whom  he  pleases.'  "  * 

Feeling  thus  in  the  First  Month  of  1857,  we  find 
him  writing  again  in  the  last  month  of  the  same  year 
on  the  same  subject  : — 

**  Last  First  Day  I  felt  the  call  to  speak  as  a  min- 
ister in  one  of  our  meetings  for  worship.  Among 
many  highly-favoured  meetings,  that  was  perhaps 
the  most  blessed  I  have  known.  Early  in  its  course 
I  seemed  to  receive  an  assurance  I  might  not  doubt 
that  an  earnest  prayer  I  raised  just  as  the  year  came 
in,  that  if  it  pleased  the  Lord  I  might  ere  its  close 
be  called  to  the  ministry,  should  be  answered.  Then 
a  season  of  prayer  followed  during  which,  under  the 
feeling  that  the  Spirit  was  indeed  helping  my  infirm- 
ity, I  prayed  for  myself  and  others  who  are  dear  to 
me  and  for  the  Church  of  God  ;  and  afterwards  I 
was  favoured  to  be  instructed  respecting  the  Saviour 
in  a  manner  that  I  think  I  never  have  known  before. 
The  errors  of  Unitarianism  seemed  to  stand  in  naked- 
ness before  me,  and  the  many  texts  of  Scripture 
which  treat  of  the  divinity  of  the  Lord  crowded  on 
my  mind  so  that  I  could  not  doubt  that  He  was  in- 
deed God  over  all,  blessed  for  ever.  As  it  was  the 
will  of  the  Father  when  the  First  Begotten  came  into 
the  world  that  all  the  angels  of  God  should  worship 
Him,  much  more  was  that  adoration  due  from  us, 

*  Milton's  Prose  Works. 


Apprcjtticeship.  29 

and  much  more  ought  we  to  bow  the  knee  at  the 
name  of  Jesus,  and  confess  Him  Lord  to  the  glory  of 
God  the  Father.  I  cannot  describe  the  rapturous 
joy  I  felt.  Emotions  such  as  the  Holy  Spirit  raises 
beggar  all  description,  and  in  order  that  any  idea 
may  be  formed  of  them  I  am  certain  they  must  be 
known.  My  whole  soul  w^as  filled  with  the  love  of 
Christ  and  with  confidence  in  Him,  and  I  felt  able 
to  use  in  all  their  force  the  emphatic  words  of  the 
Apostle,  '  Who  shall  separate  us  from  the  love  of 
Christ  ?  shall  tribulation,  or  distress,  or  persecution, 
or  famine,  or  nakedness,  or  peril,  or  sword  ?  Nay, 
in  all  these  things  w^e  are  more  than  conquerors 
through  Him  that  loved  us.'  And  again,  *I  am  per- 
suaded that  neither  death,  nor  life,  nor  angels,  nor 
principalities,  nor  powers,  nor  things  present,  nor 
things  to  come,  nor  height  nor  depth,  nor  any  other 
creature,  shall  be  able  to  separate  us  from  the  love 
of  God,  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord.'  Then 
came  a  calm,  and  in  the  midst  of  that  an  emotion 
strong  and  powerful  such  as  the  Scripture  alludes  to 
when  it  says,  '  The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  came  mightily 
upon  him,  and  he  prophesied,'  and  I  felt  that  I 
might  not  refuse  to  utter  the  words  then  brought 
before  me,  '  The  love  of  Christ  constraineth  us  ; 

BECAUSE  WE  THUS  JUDGE,  THAT  IF  ONE  DIED  FOR  ALL, 
THEN  WERE  ALL  DEAD  :  AND  THAT  He  DIED  FOR  ALL, 
THAT  THEY  WHICH  LIVE  SHOULD  NOT  HENCEFORTH 
LIVE  UNTO  THEMSELVES,  BUT  UNTO  HiM  WHICH  DIED 
FOR    THEM,     AND    ROSE    AGAIN.'        When     I     Sat     doWU, 

though  trembling  under  the  consciousness  of  in- 
creased responsibility,  I  felt  calmness  and  joy,  and 


30  Memories  of  Stanley  Purnphrey. 

the  assurance  was  given  me  that  so  He  gives  to  His 
beloved  peace. 

"  What  an  infinitely  high  privilege  it  is  to  be  the 
'■  beloved  '  of  God  ;  and  yet  it  is  what  He  would  fain 
have  us  all  to  be,  what  we  ought  all  of  us  to  aspire  to, 
yes,  even  to  be  like  Daniel  ^greatly  beloved'  of  Him. 

''I  have  felt  it  to  be  cause  for  very  great  thank- 
fulness that  my  first  words  should  be  a  testimony  to 
Jesus  Christ,  whose  servant  I  desire  to  be,  and  fer- 
vently w^ould  I  pray  that  I  might  not  live  to  myself, 
but  to  Him  who  died  for  me,  proclaiming  the  glad 
tidings  of  His  Gospel,  leading  wanderers  back  again 
to  His  fold  of  peace,  testifying  fully  and  unflinch- 
ingly concerning  His  everlasting  truth,  and  all 
through  the  grace  and  power  that  He  giveth,  that 
He  alone  may  be  glorified  forever.  Since  then,  I 
have  not  felt  my  Saviour  so  near  me  as  I  could  wish, 
and  the  adversary  tries  me  with  doubts  and  discour- 
agements, and  suggests  that  I  cannot  be  sufficient 
for  these  things.  But  I  believe  this  is  only  a  pass- 
ing cloud.  I  trust  I  may  say  that  I  know  in  whom 
I  have  believed,  that  my  Beloved  is  mine  and  I  am 
His,  and  He  is  able  and  more  than  willing,  to  keep 
that  which  I  have  committed  unto  Him." 

Thus  the  boy-preacher  tells  of  his  call  to  the  Gos- 
pel ministry  under  the  constraining  love  of  Christ. 
Throughout  the  remainder  of  his  life  the  motive 
power  in  all  his  ministry  was  the  echo  of  these  first 
w^ords,  ''  The  love  of  Christ  constraineth  me  ;"  and 
more  and  more  it  became  evident  that  he  was  living 
not  unto  himself,  but  unto  Christ  who  died  for  him 
and  rose  again. 


Apprenticeship.  31 

Stanley  Pumphrey  at  that  time  longed  to  relin- 
quish business,  and  devote  himself  to  the  office  of 
Lecturer.  It  was  just  one  of  those  struggles  between 
two  paths  w^hich  so  often  come  to  young  men,  as  the 
consciousness  of  mental  power  opens  before  them, 
and  an  ardent  desire  springs  up  within  them  to  live 
for  some  good  and  holy  purpose.  As  years  roll 
on  they  learn  that  they  can  serve  the  Lord  best  in 
the  humbler  path  of  daily  duties  faithfully  fulfilled. 
But  inasmuch  as  this  struggle  was  a  very  real  one, 
it  is  well  to  see  how  it  was  met.  The  calmly  bal- 
anced counsel  of  his  uncle  Thomas  Pumphrey,  su- 
perintendent of  Ackworth  School,  Avent  far  to  keep 
his  aspiring  nephew  on  the  right  track.  Under  date 
3rd,  Eighth  Month,  1858,  Thomas  Pumphrey  thus 
writes  : — 

*'  Thou  hast  been  much  and  frequently  in  my 
thoughts  since  the  receipt  of  thy  letter,  which  could 
not  fail  to  call  forth  feelings  of  lively  interest  and 
warm  affection.  It  is  to  me  a  comfort  of  no  ordinary 
kind  to  see  my  young  friends,  and  especially  those 
who  are  so  dear  to  me  as  thou  and  thy  sisters  are, 
bending  under  the  power  rather  than  the  weight  of 
the  cross  of  Christ,  feeling  that  they  are  not  their 
own,  and  in  the  sense  of  what  they  owe  to  their 
Saviour  earnestly  enquiring  *  How  can  I  best  serv^e 
the  Lord  ? '  This,  I  believe,  is  thy  present  position, 
and  I  would  encourage  thee  to  cherish  it,  to  abide 
under  that  exercise  of  spirit  before  the  Lord  in 
which  we  are  quick  to  hear  His  voice,  and  are  pre- 
served in  a  state  of  readiness  to  obey.  I  would  not 
turn  thee  away  from  the  serious  prayerful  consider- 


32  Memories  of  Stanley  Puinphrey. 

ation  of  the  subject  of  thy  future  course  as  a  lec- 
turer, but  I  entreat  thee  to  ponder  it  well.  I  am  not 
prepared  at  present  to  give  it  the  sanction  of  my 
judgment,  but  I  think  whatever  may  be  the  issue, 
thou  hast  wisely  decided  not  to  enter  upon  it  yet. 
Time  and  obsen-ation  will  enlarge  thy  experience  of 
men  and  things,  and  if  thou  art  preserved  in  humil- 
ity, will  deepen  thy  knowledge  of  thy  own  heart. 
That  lectures  should  be  thoroughly  imbued  w^ith  the 
Christian  spirit  is  of  the  highest  importance,  espe- 
cially those  on  history  and  literature.  They  are 
become  in  the  present  day  a  powerful  means  of  in- 
fluencing mind.  William  Allen's  lectures  on  Chemis- 
try, Anatomy,  &c.,  to  the  students  at  Guy's  Hospital 
w^ere  very  powerful  for  good,  not  only  in  neutral- 
izing the  infidelity  which  in  the  first  five  and  twenty 
years  of  the  present  century  was  leavening  the  minds 
and  characters  of  those  young  men,  but  also  in  es- 
tablishing in  the  hearts  of  not  a  few  a  real  love  of 
the  Gospel.  But  he  was  not  itinerant,  and  much  of 
his  power  depended  on  that  respect  for  his  character 
intellectually,  morally,  and  religiously,  w^iich  an  en- 
larged acquaintance  with  liim  induced,  and  which 
deepened  as  it  enlarged.  I  do  not  think  it  possible 
that  apart  from  the  influence  of  personal  character 
the  same  ability  would  have  produced  a  similar 
result. 

"I  w^ould  have  thee  carefully  consider  the  effect 
which  such  an  occupation  would  be  likely  to  have 
on  thy  own  mind,  whether  it  would  probably  feed 
or  famish  the  sins  which  most  easily  beset  thee  As 
a  schoolboy  thou  occasioned  us  here  little  trouble 


Apprenticeship,  33 

or  anxiety,  but  if  my  observations  were  correct  (and 
I  found  they  were  in  accordance  with  those  of  our 
friends  at  Bootham)  thy  obvious  besetment  was  a 
love  of  display.  There  was  an  evident  consciousness 
of  mental,  and  perhaps  even  of  moral  superiority, 
which  though  it  was  always  under  the  control  of 
good  sense  and  of  a  well  cultivated  mind,  so  as  to 
prevent  it  becoming  ridiculous,  often  excited  the 
smile  of  thy  seniors,  and  led  them  to  endeavour  in 
various  ways  to  counteract  and  discourage  it,  I  have 
no  doubt  with  considerable  success. 

^*  Still  I  can  believe  that  it  may  still  be  one  of  the 
enemies  of  thy  own  house,  and  it  has  appeared  to 
me  that  perhaps  few  occupations  would  be  more 
calculated  to  cherish  its  growth  than  lecturing.  That 
the  lecturer  is  superior  to  those  he  is  instructing,  at 
least  in  the  subject  of  his  instruction,  seems  almost 
implied.  Then  to  give  effect  by  style  and  action  and 
deportment  seems  allowable  if  not  desirable.  We 
want  to  impress,  we  are  called  upon  to  use  the 
means  we  possess  to  produce  the  impression.-  There 
is  nothing  wrong  in  this  in  itself,  but  with  minds 
constituted  as  some  are,  as  I  think  thine  to  a  con- 
siderable extent  *  is,  the  personal  danger  is  great ; 
with  others,  William  Allen  for  instance,*  it  would  fall 
almost  harmless. 

*'  Again,  I  say,  I  would  not  divert  th)^  attention  ■ 
from  what  thou  apprehends  is  spread  before  thee  as 
the  path  of  duty  at  some  future  day.  I  only  want 
thee  to  consider  its  various  bearings  and  to  take  a 
comprehensive  view  of  it.  ♦  The  right  exercise  of  the 
understanding   in    the    things   of    God   and    in   the 


34  Memories  of  Stanley  Pumphrey, 

things  which  pertain  to  our  spiritual  course  is  of 
great  moment.  A  sanctified  and  enlightened  under- 
standing is  subjected,  not  destroyed,  by  the  Holy 
Spirit,  and  the  exercise  of  the  one  in  Christian  hu- 
mility, is  quite  compatible  with  the  unfettered  guid- 
ance of  the  other.  *  I  use  my  know^ledge  and  skill 
and  experience,'  said  a  pious  medical  man,  '  in  the 
treatment  of  my  patients  as  though  everything  de- 
pended on  me  ;  I  pray  for  the  divine  blessing  on  the 
means  used  as  though  everything  depended  upon 
God.'  I  think  I  would  encourage  a  little  more  time 
at  business.  The  man  w^ho  mixes  with  the  world 
learns  a  great  deal  more  of  the  world's  character, 
its  maxiiTxS,  its  principles  of  action,  its  necessities, 
than  the  siudent  or  the  recluse.  I  always  look  back 
to  my  business  experience  as  of  a  highly  valuable 
and  practical  character,  and  I  regard  it  as  an  impor- 
tant element  in  whatever  qualifications  I  possess  for 
my  present  post.  I  would  assiduously  cultivate  my 
mind,  enlarge  and  systematize,  or  rather  arrange  its 
stores. 

"Knowledge  of  all  kinds  comes  in  useful,  when 
wisdom  is  building.  The  propriety  of  taking  a 
course  at  the  University  is  deserving  of  considera- 
tion, but  I  would  say  '  not  yet.'  Thou  wilt  better 
estimate  thy  own  wants  awhile  hence  than  at  pres- 
ent, because  thy  views  will  probably  be  more  clearly 
defined,  and  thou  w^lt  have  had  more  opportunity  of 
taking  thy  intellectual  stock." 

Stanley  Pumphrey  wisely  accepted  this  counsel  as 
conclusive  for  the  time  being,  and  continued  in 
business. 


CHAPTER    III. 

LIFE    IN    DUBLIN. 

Early  in  the  year  1858,  having  sensed  his  appren- 
ticeship faithfully  at  Worcester,  Stanley  Pumphrey 
took  a  situation  at  Edmundson  &  Co.'s,  Ironmon- 
gers, Capel  Street,  Dublin,  where  an  enlarged  sphere 
of  usefulness  soon  opened  before  him.  At  the  com- 
mencement of  his  career  in  Ireland,  he  says  : — 

**  I  earnestly  desire  that  I  may  be  enabled  to  do 
the  work  of  an  evangelist,  and  to  make  full  proof  of 
my  ministry,  that  whatever  work  God  has  for  me  in 
Dublin  may  be  done." 

He  attended  the  meetings  for  Christian  fellowship 
and  Scripture  study,  at  Henry  Bewley's,  at  Willow 
Park,  and  took  part  in  them,  realizing  the  presence 
and  power  of  the  Lord  there.  On  New  Year's  Day, 
i860,  he^  thus  summarizes  his  position  in  Dublin  : — 

"  I  received  the  call  to  the  ministry  two  years  ago, 
but  it  was  not  until  the  Dublin  Yearly  Meeting  of 
1859  that  I  began  to  speak  frequently  in  any  but  a 
private  way.  That  summer  was  a  time  of  great  en- 
largement and  happiness." 

He  then  refers  to  the  practical  difficulties  of  a 
Christian  business  man,  and  his  conflict  in  business, 
in  words  which  find  an  echo  in  the  experience  of 
many  a  young  man  :^ 


36  Memories  of  Stanley  Pumphrey. 

**  I  have  much  sin  to  deplore,  and  it  seems  of  late 
to  have  gained  a  deeper  hold  upon  me.  I  need 
especially  to  guard  my  temper,  for  I  have  been 
repeatedly  provoked  to  anger.  The  temptations  of 
business  are  manifold.  It  is  difficult  to  maintain 
constantly  the  diligence  I  owe  to  my  employers. 
It  is  difficult  always  to  keep  within  the  bounds  of 
truth.  It  is  difficult  to  fulfil  our  promises.  It  is 
difficult  to  avoid  feeling  angry  when  more  is  thrown 
on  me  than  I  think  is  fair,  and  when  others  are  un- 
w^illing  to  discharge  what  I  believe  to  be  their  duty. 
It  is  very  difficult  to  maintain  towards  a  troublesome 
customer  love  and  patience,  and  towards  a  proud 
customer  meekness.  But  victory  is  promised  through 
Christ,  and  I  desire  not  to  leave  this  post  till  I  have 
gained  it,  so  that  I  may  be  able  to  bear  a  practical 
testimony  to  the  all-sufficiency  of  our  Redeemer." 

Queries  for  his  own  conduct  as  a  young  man 
follow  : — 

*'  Have  I  kept  my  body  in  subjection,  not  unduly 
indulging  it  ? 

''  Have  I  kept  my  temper  in  subjection  both  in  my 
intercourse  with  my  associates  and  our  customers  ? 

"  Have  I  been  diligent  in  business  ? 

*'  Have  I  earnestly  sought  to  serve  the  Lord  ? 

*'  Has  love  been  the  covering  of  my  spirit  ? " 

He  then  bows  before  the  Lord  in  prayer  and  thus 
feelingly  lays  his  desires  before  God  : — 

"  Do  Thou,  O  Heavenly  Father,  for  Thy  dear  Son's 
sake,  be  pleased  to  look  down  upon  me.  Help  me 
to  lay  aside  all  impure  motives.  May  the  bonds  that 
have  restrained  me  be  loosened  so  that  I  may  preach 


Life  in  Dublin.  37 

the  Gospel  of  Christ  with  more  of  the  Spirit's  power, 
that  I  may  be  made  a  blessing  and  glorify  God.  May 
divine  wisdom  direct  my  footsteps.  May  Thy  love 
and  the  love  of  my  brother  man  alone  find  place 
within  my  heart.  Help  me  to  plead  for  truth  and 
righteousness.  Give  me  something,  I  pray  Thee,  of 
the  prophet's  spirit.  O  Lord,  I  am  but  a  child  for 
this  great  work.  Give  me  a  continual  sense  of 
weakness  and  of  need,  that  I  may  run  to  Thee  for 
help.  Give  wisdom,  O  Lord,  I  pray  Thee.  Help 
me  to  speak  so  that  man  may  hear  and  be  instructed. 
Help  me  to  speak  with  power  and  with  love.  Help 
me  at  all  times  to  speak  as  becomes  a  disciple  of  the 
Lord  Jesus.  I  bring  my  gifts  to  Thee,  O  Heavenly 
Father,  increase  them  if  it  please  Thee,  or  at  least 
sanctify  them,  that  in  the  exercise  of  them  Thou 
only  mayst  be  glorified." 

The  intense  love  of  nature,  and  enjoyment  of 
mountain  scenery,  found  many  a  gratification  in 
Stanley's  Dublin  life.  On  the  Saturday  half-holiday, 
or  an  occasional  day  for  recreation,  he  would  be  off, 
with  some  young  man  as  companion,  to  Wicklow. 
On  his  arrival  in  Dublin,  Donati's  magnificent  comet 
was  a  prominent  object  in  the  North-Western 
heavens,  and  many  an  evening  walk  he  took  to  ad- 
mire it.  Sometimes  he  would  be  off  before  daylight 
to  enjoy  the  sunrise  from  a  mountain  height,  or 
spend  the  summer's  noon,  with  his  friend  John  Bew- 
ley  Beale,  in  the  shelter  of  the  quiet  woods,  drink- 
ing in  the  harmony  and  beauty  of  such  spots  as  the 
Dargle,  or  the  Devil's  Glen,  with  the  river  making 
refreshing  music  at  their  feet.     Or,  on  a  promising 


38  Memories  of  Stanley  Piimphrey. 

afternoon  away  to  some  hilltop,  like  Killiney  or 
the  Sugar  Loaf,  to  revel  in  the  cloud  pictures  and 
splendours  of  a  glorious  sunset.  These  rambles 
were  not  confined  to  the  summer  and  autumn.  In 
mid-winter,  with  the  snow  deeply  covering  the 
ground,  they  would  visit  Powers-Court  Waterfall, 
transformed  from  its  usual  aspect  into  a  wonderful 
scene  of  beauty,  looking  like  imposing  temples  and 
grottoes,  with  combinations  of  frozen  foam  and  mas- 
sive pillars  of  ice.  The  picturesque  valley  of  Glen- 
dalough  was  visited  under  similar  circumstances, 
with  its  ruined  churches,  lakes,  and  surrounding 
mountains,  the  snow  in  the  brilliant  moonlight  caus- 
ing every  rock  and  ruin  to  stand  out  in  strong  relief, 
such  seasons  often  appropriately  closing  with  vocal 
prayer  and  praise. 

In  the  summer  of  1859,  Stanley  spent  his  vacation 
in  England,  and  greatly  enjoyed  his  visit  home.  He 
attended  the  Friends'  General  Meeting  at  Ross, 
which  was  a  time  of  special  blessing.  Early  in  the 
morning  before  the  meetings  commenced,  he  made 
his  way,  wdth  a  beloved  companion,  into  one  of  the 
woods  on  the  steep  hillside,  out  of  town,  and  there 
both  knelt  in  prayer  for  themselves  and  for  the  wel- 
fare of  the  Church  of  Christ.     Stanley  writes  : — 

"  That  day  I  shall  very  long  remember.  I  most 
surely  believe  the  prayers  there  raised  will  be  richly 
answered  by  our  Father  in  heaven.  How  delightful 
it  is  to  think  that  not  one  request  is  forgotten  by 
God.  Our  meetings  seemed  full  of  the  presence  of 
the  Lord,  and  I  thought  His  grace  was  delightfully 
manifested  in  the  words  that  were  spoken.     Many 


Life  in  Dublin.  39 

of  the  Lord's  children  were  there,  and  their  hearts 
were  full  of  love.  No  love  is  so  refreshing  as  the 
love  that  flows  from  love  to  Christ." 

On  the  same  journey,  Stanley  again  visited  Ro- 
chester, concerning  which  he  gives  an  equally  bright 
record  : — 

"  My  visit  there  gave  me  very  great  joy.  My 
dearest  Ellen's  character  seems  unfolding  most 
beautifully — so  thoughtful,  gentle,  and  abounding  in 
love.  I  cannot  doubt  that  she  is  one  of  the  tenderly 
beloved  children  of  our  heavenly  Father,  and  I  feel 
sure  that  He  will  make  her  for  me  all  that  I  require. 
With  my  father's  approval  I  mentioned  to  William 
Horsnaill  my  attachment  for  his  daughter,  and  he 
set  me  at  liberty  to  address  her  on  the  subject.  I 
have  since  received  a  very  nice  letter  from  Ellen, 
wholly  satisfactory.  God  has  done  better  for  me 
than  I  devised.  She  professes  her  high  esteem  for 
me,  but  I  think  she  is  quite  right  in  declining,  in  a 
matter  of  so  much  importance,  to  come  to  a  decided 
conclusion  yet.  She  reminds  me  how  very  little 
intercourse  we  have  had,  and  candidly  unfolds  to  me 
the  side  of  her  character  which  I  could  not  have  seen, 
telling  me  that  if  I  knew  her  as  she  knows  herself,  I 
should  have  difficulty  in  finding  anything  to  esteem 
or  love,  and  expressing  her  fear  that  she  would  be  a 
hindrance  rather  than  a  help  to  me  in  the  right  way. 
Our  sense  of  weakness  will,  I  believe,  draw  us  closer 
together,  and  in  the  effort  to  overcome  our  mutual 
failings,  we  shall  have  a  very  intimate  bend  cf  union. 
It  is  delightful  to  feel  that  it  is  of  the  Lord  that  we 
have  thus  been  brought  into  communion  with  each 


40  Memories  of  Stanley  Pumphrey. 

other.     The   future,  as  I  have    told  her,  is   hidden 
from  me. 

**  Leave  the  future — let  it  rest 

Simply  on  Thy  Saviour's  will ; 
Leave  the  future — they  are  best 
Who,  confiding,  hoping  still, 

Trust  His  mercy 
To  preserve  them  safe  from  ill." 

His  heart  then  turns  towards  his  work  in  Ireland 
in  connection  with  the  ministry  of  the  Gospel,  which 
was  growing  upon  him.  He  found  that  a  young 
preacher  has  special  temptations  to  cope  with,  some- 
times from  the  kind  attention  and  marks  of  respect 
and  popularity  from  young  and  old,  and  at  other 
times  from  the  coarse  criticism  of  unsympathizing 
companions,  or  the  well-meant  suggestions  of  un- 
authorized advisers.     He  says  : — 

''  My  heart  feels  drawn  in  very  tender  affection  to 
the  Friends  of  Dublin  Meeting  with  earnest  desires 
for  their  everlasting  welfare.  I  do  long  to  help 
them  and  to  be  made  a  blessing  to  them,  but  I  am 
very  weak.  I  am  afraid  lest  they  should  condemn 
me,  some  of  them,  for  pressing  too  forward.  I  hope 
that  I  shall  be  very  watchful  not  to  give  offence  to 
any,  and  that  in  life  and  conversation,  as  well  as  in 
the  preaching  of  the  Word,  I  may  show  unmistak- 
ably whose  I  am.  I  think  I  have  felt  more  than  ever 
that  God  has  placed  me  here,  and  I  have  no  doubt 
that  He  will  give  me  more  service  both  privately  and 
publicly  amongst  the  Dublin  Friends.  I  fervently 
desire  that  it  may  ever  be  performed  in  His  strength 
alone." 


Life  in  Dublin,  41 

It  was  not  all  smooth  sailing  with  regard  to  his 
ministry  in  meetings  in  Dublin.  He  had  spoken 
frequently  for  some  months,  when  he  suddenly  be- 
came entirely  silent,  and  not  one  word  was  heard 
from  him  for  a  long  time.  Meeting  him  one  day 
walking  down  Capel  Street,  dear  Richard  Allen  said 
to  him,  *'  Stanley,  how  is  it  that  thou  hast  become  so 
silent  in  meetings  ?  thou  used  to  be  heard  frequently, 
and  as  far  as  I  know  acceptably." 

Stanley  replied,  '*  I  thought,  Richard  Allen,  that  I 
saw  with  clearness,  with  as  much  clearness  as  ever  I 
saw  anything,  that  I  had  a  call  to  the  ministry,  but 
I  received  such  a  rebuke  that  it  silenced  me,  and  I 
feel  as  though  I  never  could  rise  above  it." 

"  Wilt  thou  tell  me  freely  whom  it  came  frorii  ? " 
enquired  the  old  man. 

Stanley  hesitated,  and  again  Richard  Allen  queried, 
"  Was  it  from  an  Irish  Friend  ?  " 

"  No,  it  was  not." 

**Then,"  answered  Richard  Allen,    "I   know  all 

about  it.     It  was  from ,  and  it  should  not 

have  troubled  thee  for  one  hour.  Thou  dost  not 
know  him.  He  has  long  been  a  trouble  to  Friends, 
and  he  is  skilled  at  hitting  at  the  most  tender  spot, 
and  thou  may  dismiss  his  rebuke  entirely  from  thy 
mind,  and  go  on  with  the  work  to  which  I  believe 
thou  hast  been  called." 

Stanley  took  heart  again,  and  soon  gave  evidence 
that  he  luas  called X.o  the  work. 

The  Irish  Revivals  at  that  time  were  awakening 
much  attention.  Thousands  assembled  in  the  open 
air  to  hear  the  Gospel  at  Londonderry  and  Bally- 


42  Memoj'ies  of  Stanley  Pumphrey. 

mena.  The  spirit  of  prayer  was  remarkably  poured 
out  on  the  people.  Working  men  at  Belfast  met 
daily  during  their  dinner  hour  and  formed  a  circle 
.for  prayer  on  their  knees  on  the  grass  in  the  Park. 
Conversion  became  the  topic  of  conversation  in  the 
railway  cars.  Little  children  by  the  roadside  were 
sitting  down  studying  their  Bibles.  Young  converts 
went  hither  and  thither  with  the  Good  News,  and 
found  large  audiences  awaiting  them.  Stanley  Pum- 
phrey writes  respecting  this  remarkable  work  : — 

"  The  revivals  in  the  North  are,  I  am  more  and 
more  persuaded,  cause  for  reverent  wonder  and 
praise.  Sinners  are  being  turned  to  righteousness, 
and  the  love  of  Christ  abounds  ;  and  there  is  so  much 
that  is  almost  entirely  independent  of  human  instru- 
mentality that  God  cannot  but  receive  the  glory.  I 
have  felt  rather  more  reconciled  to  the  physical  phe- 
nomena, they  are  not  peculiar  to  this  visitation. 
There  are  notices  of  similar  phenomena  under  the 
preaching  of  the  early  Friends  ;  and  James  Back- 
house remarks  that  it  is  the  natural  result  of  sud- 
den spiritual  awakening  upon  an  excitable  tempera- 
ment, and  that  he  has  witnessed  the  same  in  South 
Africa.  Evil  is  doubtless  in  some  degree  mingled  in 
I  this  great  work, — but  where  is  it  not  ?  " 
I  The  Christian  Churches  in  Dublin  were  also  at 
jthat  time  experiencing  a  renewal  of  spiritual  life, 
iawakening  to  the  consciousness  that  the  life  of  the 
IChristian  should  be  something  more  than  the  quiet 
enjoyment  of  religious  privileges.  Many  young  men 
among  Friends  gave  their  hearts  definitely  to  Christ. 
William  Tanner,  Joseph  Thorp,  and  others  of  the 


Life  in  Dublin.  43 

Lord's  servants,  visited  them  and  clearly  presented 
the  Gospel,  and  many  entered  into  the  joy  of  faith. 

Bible-classes,  meetings  of  young  men  for  united 
prayer  and  the  private  study  of  the  Scriptures  were 
inaugurated.  Another  important  result  was  the  open- 
ing of  the  Friend's  First-Day  School  in  Dublin,  a 
movement  which  has  developed  into  a  large  insti- 
tution embracing  a  variety  of  Christian  work.  In 
all  these  efforts  Stanley  Pumphrey  took  an  active 
part.  He  was  one  of  the  four  or  five  young  men 
who  commenced  the  First-Day  School,  and  undoubt- 
edly his  preparation  for  the  class  and  his  keen  in- 
terest in  the  scholars,  were  a  material  help  to  him- 
self. At  Band  of  Hope  meetings,  and  Literary 
reunions,  he  was  always  a  welcome  guest.  He  gave 
lectures  for  the  Mutual  Improvement  Association, 
on  Dante's  Divina  Comedia^  on  the  prose  writings  of 
Milton,  on  Blaise  Pascal,  and  St.  John  Chrysostom. 
In  Dublin  his  conversational  powers  were  also  de- 
veloped. He  added  to  the  life  of  many  a  social 
party,  and  was  eagerly  sought  for,  but  his  con- 
versation was  characterized  more  by  its  heartiness 
and  thoughtfulness,  than  by  any  desire  merely  to 
amuse. 

It  has  been  one  of  the  excellent  arrangements  of 
the  Society  of  Friends  for  generations,  that  minis- 
ters from  time  to  time,  should  pay  what  are  known 
as  *'  Family  visits  "  to  the  members,  for  the  purpose 
of  individual  dealing  with  souls.  During  his  resi- 
dence in  Dublin,  Stanley  Pumphrey  received  such  a 
visit  from  Benjamin  Seebohm. 

He  had  been  feeling  his  loneliness  as  a  minister 


44  Meni07'ies  of  Stanley  PumpJirey, 

and  discouraged  that  he  made  so  little  headway,  and 
as  the  veteran  soldier  of  Christ  sat  quietly  with  the 
young  minister,  he  delivered  to  him  the  following 
message,  as  both  believed  under  the  direct  prompt- 
ing of  the  Spirit  of  God  : —  ! 
''  I  may  remind  thee  that  while  we  can  do  little  for 
one  another,  there  is  One  who  can  supply  all  our  need 
according  to  His  riches  in  glory  by  Jesus  Christ.  I 
have  felt  it  a  great  privilege  to  be  caled  to  labour 
among  my  friends,  and  especially  rejoice  to  meet 
with  those  w4io  in  early  youth,  in  the  very  morning 
of  their  day,  are  by  the  grace  of  God  enabled  to  ac- 
cept the  offers  of  mercy  and  to  give  their  hearts  to 
Him.  I  am  comforted  in  believing  that  not  only  is 
this  the  case  with  thee,  but  that  God  who  has  called 
thee  by  His  grace,  and  revealed  His  Son  in  thee,  has 
also  constrained  thee  under  a  measure  of  the  holy 
anointing,  w^hich  is  truth  and  no  lie,  to  make  public 
profession  of  His  name,  and  to  testify  to  the  riches 
of  the  everlasting  Gospel.  In  preparing  thee  for 
this,  the  Lord  has  called  Thee  to  pass  through  many 
conflicts,  and  thou  must  expect  to  pass  through  more. 
The  adversary  of  our  souls  is  strong  and  subtle. 
Those  whom  he  has  in  vain  endeavoured  to  exalt 
above  measure,  he  tries  to  cast  down  in  despair.  He 
tries  to  persuade  them  that  their  sins  have  separated 
between  their  souls  and  God,  and  that  God  has  de- 
parted from  them  for  ever.  All  our  former  seasons 
of  divine  favour  he  hides  in  oblivion,  and  sometimes 
tempts  us  to  believe  that  in  speaking  in  the  assem- 
blies of  the  people,  when  we  may  have  done  so  under 
much  weakness  and  fear,  we  have  blasphemed  the 


Life  in  Dublin.  45 

name  of  God  or  have  acted  presumptuously.  If  such 
should  ever  be  the  case  with  thee,  and  thou  shouldst 
know  what  it  is  to  turn  from  one  side  to  another  and 
find  no  comfort,  thou  must  not  account  it  as  though 
any  new  or  strange  thing  happened  unto  thee.  Such 
has  been  the  experience  of  very  many  of  the  Lord's 
servants,  whom  the  Lord  has  nevertheless  lifted  up 
again.  It  w^as  when  the  prophet  retained  no  strength, 
and  all  his  comeliness  was  turned  within  him  to  cor- 
ruption, that  the  angel  of  the  Lord  was  sent  to  him, 
bidding  him  be  strong,  for  he  was  greatly  beloved, 
and  bearing  to  him  wonderful  truths  and  consolation, 
which  have  been  the  comfort  of  many  generations 
even  to  our  own  day.  Thus,  I  believe,  it  may  be 
with  thee,  and  that  out  of  these  deep  baptisms  thou 
shalt  be  called  to  minister  more  abundantly,  and  to 
shine  more  brightly  as  a  light  in  the  world.  If  it 
should  be  so,  thou  wilt  know  that  the  glory  is  the 
Lord's  alone.  All  that  is  of  the  flesh  must  be  brought 
low  before  Him.  Thou  must  learn  to  lean  less  upon 
thy  own  natural  powers,  and  trust  in  the  direction 
and  help  of  the  good  Spirit.  The  higher  we  ascend 
the  ladder  of  Christian  experience  the  more  deeply 
are  we  humbled  before  God.  It  remains  to  be  a 
truth  that  a  good  man's  steps  are  ordered  of  the 
Lord.  I  believe  that  God  will  guide  thee  in  His 
providence.  Thou  must  not  regard  too  much  what 
man  may  say,  either  as  to  what  thou  ought  to  do,  or 
ought  not  to  do.  Thy  eye  must  be  unto  the  Lord, 
and  thou  must  strive  to  do  His  will,  not  caring  for 
the  reproach  of  men,  but  fulfilling  every  secret  in- 
timation of  the  divine  will.     Thus  I  believe  thou  wilt 


46  Memories  of  Stanley  Ptunphrey. 

be  made  to  shine  brightly  and  be  enabled  to  advo- 
cate the  cause  so  dear  to  thee,  the  cause  of  our  God 
and  of  His  Christ,  thy  desires  be  fulfilled,  and  thou 
be  made  a  good  soldier  of  the  Lamb,  thy  riches  in 
Christ  be  abundantly  increased,  so  that  in  a  spiritual 
sense  thy  barns  shall  be  filled  with  plenty  and  thy 
presses  burst  with  new  wine.  I  feel  the  springs  of 
encouragement  flowing  towards  thee  in  an  unusual 
way.  It  may  be  that  these  words  shall  return  for 
thy  consolation  in  days  of  trial  yet  to  come,  and  that 
thou  mayst  remember  even  then,  that  a  poor  and 
weak  fellow-servant  has  felt  the  message  of  encour- 
agement given  him  to  bear  to  thee,  and  the  word 
now  spoken  may  prove  as  bread  cast  upon  the  waters, 
to  be  found  after  many  days." 

This  interview  greatly  helped  Stanley  Pumphrey, 
and  is  in  itself  a  specimen  of  a  line  of  service  and  of 
ministry  none  too  common.  It  came  at  the  very  end 
of  three  years  of  Dublin  experiences,  and  in  a  few 
weeks  he  moved  to  England.  But  Ireland  henceforth 
lay  very  near  his  heart. 


CHAPTER  IV, 

CIRENCESTER. 

In  the  spring  of  1861  Stanley  Pumphrey  moved  to 
Cirencester,  entering  into  partnership  as  an  iron- 
monger with  William  Alexander,  under  the  style  of 
Alexander  and  Pumphrey.  His  Dublin  experiences 
had  doubtless  materially  helped  to  ripen  and  enlarge 
his  mind,  and  on  settling  down  at  Cirencester  it 
soon  became  evident  that  his  views  and  tone  of 
thought  had  undergone  a  marked  change.  His 
way  of  looking  at  things  had  become  much  health- 
ier. He  no  longer  speaks  of  business  as  drudg- 
ery. He  no  longer  has  the  vague  restless  ambi- 
tion to  become  a  poet.  He  relinquishes  the  long 
cherished  idea  of  devoting  himself  to  lecturing, 
and  has  become  the  thoughtful,  intelligent,  cheer- 
ful, business  man  whom  it  was  a  pleasure  to 
meet,  because  his  Christianity  shone  out  through 
his  every  day  life.  For  despite  any  former  dis- 
inclination for  business,  Stanley  Pumphrey  was 
soon  the  closely  occupied  business  man.  Natu- 
rally industrious,  "What  is  worth  doing  at  all  is 
worth  doing  well,"  and  "Whatsoever  ye  do,  do 
it  heartily,  as  unto  the  Lord,"  might  well  have 
been  the  maxims  of  his  life.  With  the  quiet  set- 
tling  down  to  trade  came  a  great  change   for  the 


48  Memories  of  Stanley  Pumphrey. 

better  in  many  ways.  There  was  less  self-inspec- 
tion and  introversion,  less  sentiment,  and  more 
thorough  ability  and  spiritual  vigour  and  strength. 
Henceforth  his  words  are  characterized  by  much 
shrewd  wisdom  and  common  sense,  and  very 
bright  and  joyous  years  were  spent  at  Cirences- 
ter. On  writing  to  one  of  his  chosen  friends  on 
first  settling  there,  he  thus  expresses  the  change 
in  his  views  : — 

"  Our  heavenly  Father  has  taught  us  that  although 
it  is  through  much  tribulation  that  we  enter  the 
Kingdom,  it  is  not  His  will  that  we  should  go  for- 
ward moaning  on  our  way.  He  has  also  taught 
us  that  we  must  not  wait  till  we  are  fit  to  come  to 
Him  before  we  do  so,  since  at  our  very  best  we 
can  only  come  by  the  hand  of  a  Mediator.  He 
has  taught  us  also,  has  he  not  ?  that  we  must  not 
wait  until  we  are  perfect  before  we  serv^e  Him,  but 
that  now,  even  now,  in  the  ability  he  giveth,  ever 
looking  unto  Him,  we  must  do  what  we  can,  faith- 
ful in  the  little  before  we  are  rulers  over  much, 
and  that  those  who  teach  differently,  though  they 
may  not  think  so,  are  casting  stumbling-blocks 
in  their  brothers'  way,  and  are  serving  the  prince 
of  darkness  and  not  the  Prince  of  Light. 

'^  This  is  strong  language,  but  it  requires  strong 
language  to  express  what  I  feel  with  regard  to  the 
error  of  those  who  have  misguided  thee,  and  who, 
if  the  Lord  had  not  had  mercy  upon  thee,  would 
have  deprived  the  church  of  service  which  she 
cannot  afford  to  lose.  I  pray  God  that  every  scale 
of  error  may  be  taken  from  our  eyes,  and  that  we 


Cire7tcester.  49 

may  know  the  truth  and  hold  the  truth,  and  that 
the  truth  may  make  us  free. 

*'The  assurance  is  often  given  me  when  I  bow  be- 
fore His  mercy  seat  that  He  will  graciously  make 
use  of  me  and  send  me  forth  and  endue  me  with 
the  power  of  His  Spirit  to  preach  the  Gospel.  I 
am  so  thankful  to  Him  that  He  kept  me  from  having 
any  lower  aim,  it  is  so  emphatically  the  best  calling. 
What  is  lecturing,  authorship,  or  social  reform,  com- 
pared with  making  known  unto  the  heirs  of  immor- 
tality the  way  of  everlasting  life  ?  I  am  increasingly 
persuaded  that  the  coming  of  the  Lord  draweth  nigh. 
Until  He  come  I  would  gladly  spend  all  the  best 
strength  of  my  days  in  making  known  to  others  the 
riches  of  the  salvation  that  there  is  in  Him." 

It  Avas  a  great  change  from  the  large  household  in 
Capel  Street,  Dublin,  to  the  bachelor  lodgings  on 
Cicely  Hill,  Cirencester.  But  even  in  lodgings  he 
must  find  ways  and  means  to  have  company,  and 
soon  a  letter  was  sent  to  his  two  younger  sisters,  *'  I 
want  you  to  be  my  first  visitors.  It  is  only  proper 
that  Caroline's  first  visit  on  leaving  school  should  be 
to  me,  I  want  you  to  see  what  sort  of  place  I  am 
in,  and  what  nice  friends  I  have  round  me  ;  and  if 
you  will  come  at  once,  you  will  catch  the  Park  in  the 
full  glory  of  its  autumn  colouring." 

Lord  Bathurst's  extensive  Park,  so  generously 
open  to  the  public,  was  a  constant  pleasure  to  him. 
His  first  lodgings  were  almost  close  to  its  gates. 
The  regular  fine-weather  walk  on  First  Day  was 
across  the  Park,  when  the  gates,  always  closed  dur- 
ing hours  of  public  worship,  were  generally  opened 
3 


50  Memories  of  Stanley  Piimphrey. 

first  for  the  Friends.  He  loved  to  explore  it 
thoroughly,  and  soon  knew  where  the  toothwort  was 
to  be  found,  or  the  finest  bird's-nest  orchises  grew, 
as  well  as  any  botanist  in  the  neighbourhood,  and 
was  probably  more  familiar  than  they  with  the  wild 
beauty  of  the  Cathedral  Firs  by  moonlight,  and  the 
lov^eliness  that  hung  at  sunset  over  the  ten  converg- 
ing avenues.  A  warm  lover  of  flowers  rather  than  a 
scientific  botanist,  to  look  for  frittilarias  at  Oaksey, 
and  lilies  at  Sapperton,  became  almost  annual  excur- 
sions. The  latter  spot,  standing  near  the  head  of  the 
Stroud  valley,  was  his  favourite  pic-nic,  and  the 
stately  beech  tree  on  the  hill  slope,  which  he  boasted 
was  the  finest  in  England,  was  specially  enjoyed  as 
being  the  most  beautiful  illustration  he  knew  of  the 
luxuriance  of  "the  tree  planted  by  the  rivers  of 
water."  It  was  to  these  woods  that  he  introduced 
his  sisters  on  a  beautiful  autumn  Sabbath,  and  asso- 
ciated their  loveliest  glades  with  some  of  his  favour- 
ite psalms.  Turning,  as  he  used  to  do,  from  nature 
to  nature's  God,  he  repeated,  "  Bless  the  Lord,  O 
my  soul.  O  Lord  my  God,  thou  art  very  great  ; 
thou  art  clothad  with  honour  and  majesty.  Who 
coverest  thyself  witli  light  as  with  a  garment ;  w^ho 
stretchest  out  the  heavens  like  a  curtain.  Who  laid 
the  foundations  of  the  earth  that  it  should  not  be 
removed  for  ever.  He  watereth  the  hills  from  his 
chambers  ;  the  earth  is  satisfied  with  the  fruit  of  thy 
works.  The  glory  of  the  Lord  shall  endure  for  ever, 
the  Lord  shall  rejoice  in  his  works.  My  meditation 
of  him  shall  be  sweet,  I  will  be  glad  in  the  Lord." 
— Ps.  civ. 


Cirencester.  5 1 

The  sisters'  happy  visit  was  a  short  one,  but  it  was 
not  long  before  his  sister  Helen  was  back  again, 
"thinking  little,  dear  girl,"  he  wrote,  "of  the  long 
days  she  must  spend  by  herself,  for  the  sake  of 
brightening  my  few  evening  hours." 

He  kept  early  hours  ;  breakfast  at  seven  and  to 
business  at  eight  o'clock,  summer  and  winter,  wet 
or  fine.  But  often  there  w^ere  late  hours  too,  for  the 
business  grew  and  premises  had  to  be  altered,  and 
after  a  fire  in  1870,  rebuilt,  all  which  threw  much 
work  and  worry  on  the  heads  of  the  establishment. 
His  was  not  a  mind  to  take  worries  very  easily.  He 
liked  things  in  order,  and  it  fidgetted  him  when 
they  were  not.  He  loved  punctuality,  and  if  goods 
were  not  delivered  to  date  it  was  a  trial  to  his  pa- 
tience. But  he  also  loved  the  men  and  boys  in  his 
employ,  and  in  return  was  loved  and  respected  by 
them  as  "a  good  master"  and  "a  good  business 
man."  It  was  a  great  grief  to  him  when  driving 
through  heavy  rain  from  Hatherop  Castle,  where 
they  were  doing  a  lot  of  work  for  the  Maharajah 
Dhuleep  Singh,  one  of  his  men  took  cold,  and  was 
laid  up  w4th  rheumatic  fever  for  months.  "  Poor 
Reuben  !  and  to  think  he  most  likely  would  have 
missed  it,  if  he  had  only  had  as  good  a  wrapper  as 
Iliad!"  "What  respectable  fellows  some  of  our 
men  are  !  "  he  said  with  a  master's  pride,  as  he  passed 
two  of  them  in  the  street  on  the  Sabbath.  "Look 
at  those  two  men  now  !  Don't  they  look  almost  as 
much  the  gentleman  as  the  master  himself  ! " 

There  v/as  warm  interest  felt  when  any  of  the  men 
married,  and  kind  words  for  their  children  when  he 


52  Memories  of  Stanley  Pumphrey. 

met  them,  and  calls  paid  when  there  was  illness  in 
their  families.  ^'  I  wish  I  had  time  to  see  more  of 
our  men  in  their  own  homes,"  he  would  often  say, 
'-•  but  there's  no  time  to  call  on  week  days,  and  on 
First  Day  they  are  as  glad  of  quiet  at  home  as  I  am." 
As  he  was  proceeding  to  meeting  one  First  Day 
morning  he  was  much  distressed  to  find  that  one  of 
the  young  men  once  employed  in  the  business  had 
suddenly  died.  Stanley  had  never  spoken  to  him 
about  his  soul,  and  he  feelingly  remarked  to  a  friend 
at  his  side,  ''I  find  it  far  more  difficult  to  speak  to 
those  with  whom  I  associate  daily  than  to  address  a 
houseful  at  a  meeting,  but  this  is  a  solemn  warning 
to  put  the  Master's  business  in  the  first  place  in  our 
daily  life." 

In  1862  occurred  one  of  those  deeply  interesting 
episodes  in  church  life  that  in  some  of  its  features  is 
peculiar  to  the  Society  of  Friends. 

The  '' concern"  of  Russell  Jeffrey  to  travel  as  a 
Gospel  minister  in  India  was  thrown  before  the. 
Monthly  Meeting  of  Gloucester  and  Nailsworth. 
After  the  usual  meeting  for  worship,  Russell  Jeffrey 
informed  Friends  that  for  twenty  years  the  belief 
had  rested  on  his  mind  that  the  Lord  would  call  him 
to  work  in  India,  and  that  the  recent  visit  to  London 
of  two  or  three  native  enquirers  from  Calcutta,  and 
the  visit  of  Frederick  Mackay  to  India,  had  power- 
fully revived  his  sense  of  the  Lord's  call.  He  felt 
it  laid  upon  -him  to  visit  the  enquirers  in  Calcutta, 
the  scenes  of  the  late  mutiny,  the  vicinities  where 
there  were  British  and  Foreign  residents  in  Bengal 
and  Madras,  and  the  ancient  Christian  churches  in  the 


Cirencester.  53 

Bombay  Presidency.  He  realised  something  of  the 
danger  and  difficulty  attending  such  a  visit,  and  felt  it 
might  be  like  the  laying  down  of  his  life,  and  yet, 
with  great  humility,  he  desired  to  offer  himself  as 
dedicated  to  it  if  it  should  meet  with  the  approval 
of  his  friends. 

Many  tears  of  sympathy  w^ere  shed,  and  the  emo- 
tions of  many  present  w^ere  too  strong  to  find  utter- 
ance in  words.  Russell  Jeffrey  w^as  an  elderly  man, 
were  there  no  young  men  for  such  service  ?  Samuel 
Bowly  of  Gloucester  knelt  in  fervent  prayer  for  di- 
vine guidance,  a  prayer  which  evidently  rose  with  the 
accord  of  the  entire  congregation.  An  unknown 
woman  friend  was  the  first  to  speak  in  terms  of  strong 
encouragement. 

That  Quaker  patriarch,  Antony  Fewster  of  Nails- 
worth,  then  rose  and  spoke  approvingly,  but  dwelling 
cautiously  on  the  difficulties  and  dangers.  Samuel 
Bowly  followed,  appropriately  and  beautifully  dwell- 
ing on  the  excellence  of  the  v/ork,  on  the  goodness 
of  the  Master  in  whose  service  it  would  be  per- 
formed, on  the  appropriateness  of  an  upholder  of  the 
principles  of  peace  going  into  the  district  of  the 
mutiny  where  opposite  principles  had  so  largely  pre- 
vailed, and  on  our  duty  in  spreading  the  Gospel  of 
our  Lord. 

Stanley  Pumphrey  then  expressed  his  full  unity, 
quoting  the  w^ords  of  our  Lord  Jesus,  "  Veril)^  I  say 
unto  you,  there  is  no  man  that  hath  left  house,  or 
brethren,  or  sisters,  or  father,  or  mother,  or  wife,  or 
children,  or  lands,  for  My  sake  and  the  Gospel's,  but 
he  shall    receiv^e  an   hundredfold  now  in  this  time, 


54  Memories  of  Stanley  PumpJircy, 

houses  and  brethren,  and  sisters,  and  mothers,  and 
children  and  lands,  with  persecutions  ;  and  in  the 
world  to  come  eternal  life."  Stanley  dwelt  on  '■'■  the 
hundredfold  now^"  that  though  according  to  human 
calculation  the  balance  might  seem  entirely  in  the 
other  scale  ;  yet  the  servant  of  the  Lord  w^as  so  re- 
freshed withy^^  from  His  presence,  and  with  the  con- 
solations of  His  Spirit,  that  he  was  enabled  to  testify 
to  his  Master's  faithfulness,  and  to  the  fulfilment  of 
His  promise. 

Thomas  Brewin  quoted  the  great  missionary  charge 
of  the  risen  Saviour,  ''Go  ye  into  all  the  world  and 
preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature."  Isaac  Pitt, 
Eliza  Sessions  and  others  followed  in  a  similar  strain 
of  approval,  and  a  committee  was  appointed  to  pre- 
pare a  certificate  for  the  Lord's  messenger  to  take 
with  him.  Ultimately  he  was  accompanied  by  Henry 
Hipsley,  and  William  Brewin,  and  the  service  occu- 
pied two  or  three  years,  embracing  a  general  visit  to 
most  of  the  Mission  Stations  in  North  and  South 
India  and  Ceylon,  and  was  of  material  service  to  the 
missionary  cause. 

"Since  I  came  to  Cirencester,"  Stanley  writes  in 
1863,  "  I  have  not  studied  a  bit.  I  have  read  no  stan- 
dard author,  and  can  tell  nothing  of  literary  progress. 
I  have  written  nothing  but  letters.  Whether  I  shall 
ever  study  again  is  uncertain,  and  as  to  authorship, 
it  is  quite  amusing  to  talk  about  it.  Years  ago  my 
ambition  was  fired  by  thoughts  about  'gifts  that 
ought  not  to  be  buried,'  and  'talents,'  and  I  had  no 
more  sense  than  to  think  myself  a  genius  !  I  have 
given  up  all  thoughts  of  becoming  a  great  gun  long 


Cirencester,  55 

since,  and  /  have  laid  my  ambition  in  its  shroud.  There 
may  it  rest  in  peace  !  Not  that  I  give  up  thoughts 
of  usefulness.  I  do  not  wish  to  settle  on  my  lees. 
Labour  for  the  honour  of  Christ  is  my  highest  ideal 
of  man's  happiness." 

''  How  tantalizing  it  is  to  have  good  books  in  the 
house  and  not  to  have  time  to  look  at  them,"  he 
would  remark  as  some  book  from  the  Reading  So- 
ciety lay  on  the  sideboard,  adding,  "Do  read  it  for 
me,  and  tell  me  all  about  it." 

Perhaps  some  may  wonder  where  this  new  inspi- 
ration for  w^ork  came  from,  and  how  this  fine  healthy 
breeze  of  early  manhood  came  to  be  developed. 
Coming  events  cast  their  shadows  before  them. 
Early  in  1863  the  lodgings  Avere  exchanged  for  a 
house  of  his  own,  and  his  sisters  and  himself  were 
busy  putting  all  in  order  for  the  expected  bride. 

A  newly-built  house  outside  the  town,  near  the  re- 
mains of  the  Roman  amphitheatre,  became  his  resi- 
dence. The  house  had  just  been  erected  by  the 
engine-driver  on  the  little  branch  line,  a  thrifty, 
careful  man,  who  used  thankfully  to  say  that  he  had 
never  known  an  accident  on  his  line.  This  engine- 
driver  was  his  neighbour  on  the  one  side,  vdiile  the 
Rev.  J.  Stratford,  a  Nonconformist  minister,  the  au- 
thor of  Good  and  Great  Men  of  Gloucestershire,  was 
his  neighbour  on  the  other  side.  And  very  neigh- 
bourly they  w^ere.  The  garden  walls  w^ere  low 
enough  to  talk  over,  and  kind  services  were  con- 
stantly passing  between  the  different  households. 
When  Stanley  took  the  house,  the  garden  w^as  a 
piece  of  barren  land,  for  "  You'll  like  to  lay  it  out 


56  Memories  of  Stanley  Pumphrey. 

yourself,  Mr.  Pumphrey,  won't  you  ? "  said  the 
thoughtful  landlord.  And  a  very  pleasant  garden 
Stanley  and  his  friend,  George  Gillett,  make  of  it, 
with  its  sheltered  summerhouse  in  one  corner,  where 
they  often  sat  down  to  tea,  and  the  pretty  porch,  by 
tlie  side  of  which  the  gloire  de  Dijon  roses  climbed, 
up  to  the  bedroom  windows,  and  blossomed  from' 
May  to  December.  The  wall-flowers,  the  evening 
primroses,  the  forget-me-nots,  and  the  strawberries 
flourished  under  his  care.  There  was  plenty  of 
stonecrop  to  attract  the  tortoiseshell  butterflies,  and 
larkspur  to  tempt  the  humming-bird  moths.  He 
w^ould  take  his  chair  and  sit  for  half-an-hour  watch- 
ing the  unfolding  of  the  evening  primrose,  and  there 
was  scarcely  a  flower  or  insect  about  the  garden  but 
was  regarded  as  a  personal  acquaintance. 

Indoors  and  out,  everything  was  put  ready  for  the 
bride  ;  and  in  the  summer  of  1863  Ellen  Horsnail 
became  Ellen  Pumphrey.  The  marriage  took  place 
at  Rochester,  and  the  Cirencester  home  was  more 
than  ever  a  bright  and  happy  spot. 

The  same  year  Stanley  was  acknowledged  as  an 
accredited  minister  of  the  Gospel  by  Gloucester  and 
Nailsworth  Monthly  Meeting. 

In  the  summer  of  1863,  he  writes  : — "  It  is  indeed 
very  pleasant  to  be  sitting  down  with  my  own  dear 
wife  beside  me.  Sometimes  I  feel  as  though  I  had 
nothing  whatever  more  to  wish  for."  And  thus  with 
a  well-established  business,  a  comfortable  and  joy- 
ous home,  the  approval  and  respect  of  his  friends, 
and  his  young  bride  by  his  side  to  be  to  him  as  a 
bright  sunbeam  of  happiness,  Stanley  Pumphrey  was 


Cirencester. 


57 


as  one  who  had  obtained  the  desires  of  his  heart, 
and  saw  the  fulfilment  of  the  promise,  '^Commit  thy 
way  unto  the  Lord,  trust  also  in  Him,  and  He  shall 
bring  it  to  pass.  Delight  thyself  also  in  the  Lord, 
and  He  shall  give  thee  the  desires  of  thine  heart." 

Daily  prayer  m  the  family  was  his  invariable  cus- 
tom. He  had  made  up  his  mind  once  for  all  that  it 
was  right,  and  waited  for  no  further  call.  "Were  I 
to  wait  each  morning  for  some  remarkably  definite 
special  call,"  he  said,  "  I  might  wait  in  vain."  He 
had  thus  escaped  from  the  mysticism  that  would  re- 
strain the  Lord's  children  from  child-like  confidence 
in  asking  for  the  daily  supply  of  their  needs  ;  and 
again  was  fulfilled  the  word  of  the  Lord,  "Them 
that  honour  me  I  will  honour."  An  old  servant  re- 
marks, "  I  shall  ever  thank  God  he  lived.  I  remem- 
ber when  I  went  to  Cirencester  what  an  influence  his 
prayers  had  over  me,  and  I  wished  I  could  live  such 
a  good  and  useful  life."  Young  men  or  apprentices 
were  boarded  in  the  house,  and  Stanley  endeavoured 
to  make  them  feel  thoroughly  at  home,  remarking 
that  "  Business  men  ought  to  make  safe  and  happy 
and  comfortable  homes  for  their  young  men."  And 
what  he  held  in  theory,  he  aimed  to  put  into  prac- 
tice. 

At  Quarterly  Meeting  times  his  little  house  was 
stretched  to  its  utmost  capacity  ;  and  on  rarer  occa- 
sions when  welcoming  those  whom  he  reverenced,  he 
would  remark,  "  We  are  better  off  than  Abraham, 
for  we  have  entertained  angels,  and  knew  that  we 
were  doing  it  too."  But  among  his  guests  few  were 
more  heartily  received  than  the  children  ;  from  the 
3* 


58  Memories  of  Stanley  Pumphrey, 

young  brothers-in-law,  who,  when  at  school  at  Ciren- 
cester, were  his  frequent  visitors,  to  the  nephews 
and  nieces  who  as  years  ran  on  often  brightened 
his  happy  home.  He  returned  in  great  glee  from  a 
Monthly  Meeting  one  day  bringing  three  young  visi- 
tors with  him,  exclaiming,  ''There,  my  dear,  I  have 
brought  thee  three  as  nice  little  girls  as  ever  thy 
heart  need  wish  for,  and  they  won't  mind  if  thou 
puts  them  all  three  in  one  bed."  Their  happy  visit 
was  a  time  he  often  recalled  with  pleasure.  "  I  hope 
those  young  things  have  enjoyed  themselves,"  he 
said,  when  they  had  departed  ;  "'tis  certain  I  have 
enjoyed  them  ;  they  have  done  me  a  lot  of  good." 
And  so  the  children's  visits  were  looked  forward  to 
with  great  satisfaction  ;  and  when  the  little  nieces 
and  nephew^s  came,  Stanley  might  be  seen  before 
breakfast  running  round  the  garden  with  them  on 
his  back,  kissing  them  awake  at  night  to  see  some 
rarely  beautiful  display  of  northern  lights,  and  de- 
lighting them  with  stories  of  things  seen  and  never 
to  be  seen,  till  one  and  all  came  to  the  conclusion 
that  "  There  never  was  such  a  grand  uncle  as  Uncle 
Stanley." 

''  Josie,  we  saw  stars  running  about,  last  night,  with 
tails  as  long  as  monkeys'  "  he  informed  a  young  ne- 
phew, one  morning  after  a  fine  shower  of  meteors,  and 
enjoyed  the  straightforward  reproof,  "  It  is  wicked 
to  tell  lies  ;  if  stars  had  tails  they  wouldn't  be  stars 
any  longer." 

All  phenomena  of  this  kind  had  a  special  charm 
for  him.  "  Here's  a  shawl,  come  along  !  "  he  shouted 
to  his    sister   one    morning  as    he    rushed  home  in 


Cirencester.  59 

haste,  and  raced  with  her  some  way  beyond  the 
garden  gate  before  he  found  time  or  breath  to  inform 
her  that  tliere  was  the  loveliest  little  rainbow  down 
to  the  field,  and  she  wasn't  to  miss  seeing  it  on  any 
account.  And  there,  as  their  shadows  were  cast 
from  the  railway  bridge  on  the  dense  mist  in  the 
meadow  below,  a  bright  prismatic  halo  encircled 
them. 

A  mile  or  two  across  the  fields,  and  almost  in 
view  from  his  parlour  window,  was  the  little  village 
of  Siddington,  whose  old  manor  house,  as  well  as 
Cirencester  "steeple  house,"  are  familiar  to  the 
readers  of  John  Roberts'  lively  biography.  Here 
on  Sunday  evenings  Stanley  often  attended  cottage 
meetings,  or  helped  in  the  crowded  Mission  Meet- 
ing in  Cricklade  Street.  At  other  times  he  drove  to 
Woodmancote  to  help  a  good  farmer  in  a  cottage 
meeting  there,  or  of  tener  still  he  walked  the  five  miles, 
that  man  and  horse  should  not  loose  their  Sabbath 
rest. 

A  little  Bible-class  was  held  every  Tuesday  even- 
ing at  the  house  of  his  friend  George  Gillett,  for 
the  younger  Friends  of  the  Meeting,  in  which 
Stanley  took  an  active  part,  and  which  proved  very 
helpful  to  those  who  attended  it. 

There  was  no  First  Day  School  at  Cirencester 
when  he  first  went  there  ;  and  the  attempt  to  start 
one  failed.  He  afterwards  occasionally  took  a  class 
composed  of  boys  gathered  from  the  worst  parts  of 
the  town,  at  the  Club-rooms  on  their  own  business 
premises.  For  two  months  every  spring  the  little 
town  of  Cirencester  was  crowded  with  militia,  and 


6o  Memories  of  Stanley  Piimphrey. 

Stanley  took  part  in  special  meetings  for  them,  and 
in  other  efforts  for  their  welfare,  bestirring  himself 
to  provide  the  British  Workman  and  other  suitable 
reading  for  them. 

As  secretary  to  the  Temperance  Society  he  found 
plenty  to  do  in  arranging  lectures.  The  lecturers 
were  often  entertained  at  his  house.  On  Good 
Friday  a  large  temperance  tea-meeting  was  regularly 
held,  when  every  corner  of  the  large  Temperance 
Hall  was  crowded.  This  handsome  building  was 
erected  by  the  late  Christopher  Bowly,  and  floored 
with  the  wood  of  old  beer-vats.  Every  summer 
there  w^as  also  a  great  temperance  fete  in  the  Park, 
when  the  Band  of  Hope  children  mustered  in  full 
force,  all  involving  plenty  of  work  for  the  honorary 
secretary. 

A  publican  came  to  the  shop  one  day  and  ordered 
a  magnificent  lamp  to  make  his  gin  palace  more 
attractive.  One  of  the  young  men  took  the  order. 
When  Stanley  heard  of  it,  he  said,  "  No,  I  can  have 
nothing  to  do  w^ith  making  a  gin  palace  attractive," 
and  he  went  to  the  publican  and  told  him  he  could 
not  execute  the  order.  The  man  was  very  angry, 
but  Stanley's  good  sense  and  even  temper  w^on  the 
day,  and  the  publican  afterwards  showed  his  special 
respect  and  good  will. 

In  September,  1865,  he  visited  Cornwall,  in  the 
service  of  the  Gospel,  in  company  wdth  Henry 
Alexander.  Having  arrived  at  Penzance,  Charles 
Fox  and  Alfred  Lloyd  Fox  accompanied  Stanley  to 
the  Scilly  Islands.  Taking  the  steamer  they  coasted 
by  Mounts  Bay,  Mousehole,  the  Logan  Rocks,  Tol 


Cirencester.  6 1 

Peden  Penwith,  and  Lands  End,  then  crossing  the 
beautiful  blue  water  landed  at  St.  Mary's.  The 
next  day  a  meeting  \vas  arranged  at  St.  Martin's  in 
the  Bryonite  Chapel,  and  another  the  same  evening 
at  Holy-Vale.  They  rowed  the  following  day  to  the 
island  of  Bryer,  where  they  were  gladly  received  by 
the  pious  Methodists.  The  people  of  this  little  island 
had  suffered  much  for  conscience  sake.  Their  little 
chapel  had  been  levelled  to  the  ground,  and  its  very 
stones  appropriated  to  the  services  of  a  religion  with 
which  they  had  little  sympathy.  They  then  met  for 
worship  on  the  hill  side,  and  when  Richard  Hicks 
opened  his  cottage  for  the  meetings  he  received 
notice  to  quit,  and  was  only  allowed  to  remain  by 
paying  increased  rent.  They  continued  to  meet  for 
prayer  in  his  house,  and  there  Stanley  Pumphrey 
appointed  a  meeting.  Other  meetings  followed  on 
Tresco,  where  Lucy  Harris  had  w^orked  lovingly 
among  the  people,  and  on  St.  Agnes,  and  again  a 
large  meeting  at  St.  Mary's,  in  which  Henry  Alex- 
ander took  part.  Stanle3'''s  text  at  the  meeting  was, 
*'  Of  a  truth  I  perceive  that  God  is  no  respecter  of 
persons,  but  in  every  nation  he  that  feareth  him, 
and  worketh  righteousness,  is  accepted  wHth  Him." 
He  afterwards  found  that  this  was  the  very  text 
which  Isaac  Sharp  had  taken  at  the  same  place 
twenty  years  before. 

Returning  to  Cornwall  they  visited  Redruth, 
where  they  received  a  cordial  welcome  from  George 
Cornish,  who  was  like  a  sympathizing  father  to  the 
young  minister.  Stanley  also  much  enjoyed  the 
visit   to    Robert    Were    Fox    at    Penjerrick.       The 


62  Memories  of  Stanley  Pumphrey. 

estate  itself  is  exquisitely  lovely,  with  magnificent 
rhododendrons,  araucarias  and  hydrangeas  in  the 
foreground,  and  a  succession  of  charming  little 
lakes  among  the  trees  in  the  mid-distance,  as  the 
valley  slopes  down  to  the  sparkling  sea. 

But  the  combination  of  devotion  of  heart  to 
Christ,  with  great  scientific  attainments,  made  R,  W. 
Fox  himself  a-  centre  of  interest.  Though  then  an 
old  man  of  seventy-seven,  he  abounded  in  conversa- 
tional talents  and  affability.  Equally  delightful  was 
the  visit  to  Charles  Fox  at  Trebah.  Stanley  writes  : 
— "  The  sun  was  setting,  and  the  views  of  the  little 
fiord  were  very  lovely.  It  is  wilder  than  the  others, 
and  the  one  I  should  most  enjoy.  It  is  inexpressibly 
sweet  to  see  men  in  the  enjoyment  of  almost  every- 
thing to  make  this  life  beautiful,  enabled  to  keep 
the  world  in  its  right  place,  to  look  beyond  it,  and 
enjoy  bright  hopes  of  heaven." 

Various  meetin  ^s  in  Cornw^all  follov/ed,  and  then 
Stanley  hastened  home  with  a  thankful  heart ;  but 
his  deep  interest  in  the  simple-hearted  inhabitants  of 
the  Scilly  Islands  continued  after  his  return,  and  he 
actively  helped  in  forming  and  replenishing  a  lend- 
ing library  for  the  fishermen  there. 


CHAPTER  V. 

CIRENCESTER — Continued. 

The  shadow  of  a  great  sorrow  was  stealing  over  the 
happy  home  at  Cirencester.  It  soon  became  evident 
that  Stanley  Pumphrey's  beloved  wife  was  sinking 
in  consumption.  Long  separations  followed,  while 
she  was  seeking  health  at  Matlock,  Torquay  and 
elsewhere. 

'*  Dear  Ellen  is  very  sadly,"  was  Stanley's  record  in 
the  New  Year  of  1867.  "She  is  quite  a  prisoner  to 
the  house  and  hardly  eqiial  for  anything.  Her  cough 
at  times  is  distressing,  and  our  rest  is  much  broken. 
My  hopes  of  her  recovery  are  almost  gone,  and  I  am 
often  very  sad.  This  day  week  I  strayed  into  our 
peaceful  burial  ground,  and  the  words  involuntarily 
came  up,  '  In  the  choice  of  our  sepulchres  bury  thy 
dead.'  I  almost  wept  as  I  thought  how  soon  it 
might  be  mine  to  choose,  and  I  went  to  the  vacant 
spot  beside  the  grave  of  Henry's  dear  mother.  But 
these  things  are  too  sad  to  write  about.  *  In  the 
world  ye  shall  have  tribulation.'^  Oh,  may  we  know 
in  all  their  blessed  significance  the  meaning  of  those 
words,  '  In  Me  ye  shall  have  peace.' " 

In  the  autumn  of  the  same  year  she  paid  her  last 
visit  to  Rochester,  and  while  there  became  worse. 
As  winter  advanced  she  was  rarely  able  to  leave  the 


64  Memories  of  Stanley  Pumphrey. 

house,  and  the  couch  became  her  continual  resting- 
place.  The  weariness  and  weakness  were  borne 
with  cheerful  patience.  With  calm  trust  and  re- 
pose in  her  heavenly  Father's  love,  she  looked  for 
the  still  happier  home  to  which  she  was  so  soon  to 
go,  and  strove  to  cheer  her  husband  with  the  assur- 
ance that  He  who  was  supporting  her,  would  support 
him  also.  It  was  a  great  comfort  to  both  of  them 
that  during  her  illness  her  own  mother,  whom  they 
loved  so  much,  was  able  to  be  with  her.  On  the  9th  of 
February  she  took  the  pen,  almost  for  the  last  time, 
and  wrote  in  her  husband's  album  :  ''  Thou  wilt  keep 
him  in  perfect  peace  whose  mind  is  stayed  on  thee, 
because  he  trusteth  in  thee.  Trust  ye  in  the  Lord  for 
ever,  for  in  the  Lord  Jehovah  is  everlasting  strength." 

Ellen  Pumphrey  died  on  the  6th  March,  1868.  It 
was  a  terrible  blow  to  Stanley,  but  he  fled  for  refuge 
to  Christ.  *'  I  never  saw  any  man  so  aged  with  any- 
thing," was  the  remark  of  a  neighbour  about  a  fort- 
night after  her  death  ;  and  Stanley's  character  deep- 
ened under  the  heavy  trial. 

A  visit  to  the  few  Friends  in  the  small  Quarterly 
Meeting  of  Kent  followed  in  the  same  year.  In  re- 
gard to  these  meetings  he  says,  ''  The  continuance 
of  these  little  meetings  from  one  generation  to  an- 
other proves  that  there  is  strong  vitality  in  the  So- 
ciety of  Friends,  ar^d  not  less  surely  there  must  be 
some  grevious  hindrance,  or  the  truth  would  spread." 

In  1869  Stanley  took  a  four  to  Switzerland  and 
Italy  with  his  father  and  brother-in-law.  They  dis- 
tributed Gospels  as  they  ran  along  ;  and  on  arriving 
at  Basle  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  Mary  Edmund- 


Cirencester.  65 

son  and  her  family,  and  Eliza  Wigham,  of  Edinburgh. 
Taking  the  steamer  along  Lake  Lucerne,  they  went 
over  the  St.  Gothard  Pass  to  Italy.  The  head  of  the 
Pass  is  a  large  plateau  containing  two  lakes  covered 
with  ice  and  snow,  and  encircled  by  an  amphitheatre 
of  snowy  mountains.  Amongst  these  are  the  great 
watersheds  of  Europe.  *'  The  grandest  part  of  the 
ride,"  Avrites  Stanley,  ''is  the  passage  of  the  Ticino 
with  its  hundreds  of  waterfalls,  called  the  '  Val 
Tremola,'  from  the  dizzy  descent. 

''At  the  foot  of  the  St.  Gothard  there  was  prob- 
ably once  a  lake,  for  the  valley  is  here  blocked 
across  by  a  mountain.  Gradually,  however,  the 
river  has  worn  its  course  down  through  the  rocks, 
and  is  now  a  magnificent  rapid.  The  defile  is  very 
narrow^  the  rocks  towering  over  our  heads,  and  the 
road  often  tunneling  through  them.  Beneath,  the 
river,  sometimes  narrowed  to  a  strid,  surges  and 
foams  tumultuously,  the  water  dashing  wildly  from 
side  to  side,  and  tossing  stones  about  in  the  foam 
like  marbles.  As  we  approached  Bellinzona  it  was 
nearly  sunset,  and  the  valley  looked  lovelier  than 
ever  in  the  quiet  evening  light,  the  mountains  still 
glowing  in  the  sunshine.  Bellinzona  carries  the 
mind  back  to  the  days  of  Dante  and  Petrarch.  It 
is  walled  and  has  three  castles  with  projecting  cor- 
nices on  the  wall  supported  by  corbels.  The  women 
do  most  of  the  field  work,  carry  burdens,  and  are 
terribly  afflicted  with  goitre.  The  men  make  the 
beds  and  do  other  light  employm.ent." 

After  visiting  Como,  Maggiore,  Lugano,  and  Mi- 
lan, they  returned  to  Switzerland  by  the  Simplon. 


66  Memories  of  Stanley  Puinphrey. 

Under  date  of  9th  June,  1869,  Stanley  writes  en- 
thusiastically of  the  ascent : — 

"  We  left  Domo  D'Ossola  at  six  this  morning,  and 
for  eight  hours  were  steadily  ascending  6,200  feet  of 
the  Simplon  Pass,  with  a  succession  of  precipices, 
rocks,  torrents,  and  snow-crowned  heights.  As  a 
piece  of  engineering  the  road  is  most  extraordinary. 
In  one  place  the  gorge  is  completely  filled  by  huge 
rocks,  the  river  just  making  its  way  between  two  pre- 
cipices, and  apparently  leaving  no  roadway.  Napo- 
leon's engineers,  however,  bridged  the  chasm  above 
a  magnificent  waterfall,  and  then  at  once  proceeded 
to  tunnel  through  the  rock.  We  dined  on  goat  and 
dandelion-salad  at  an  elevation  of  5,000  feet,  and 
continued  to  ascend  till  we  had  a  good  view  of  the 
glaciers.  The  flora  is  delightful.  It  is  so  charming 
to  see  plants  which  for  months  have  been  smothered 
in  snow^  come  out  in  this  desolate  region  looking  as 
bright  and  joyous  as  though  they  had  the  sun  upon 
them  all  the  year.  There  are  the  Alpine  roses,  the 
fragrant  Vvhite  lilies,  rosy  primulas,  gentians,  and 
forget-me-nots  vrith  their  darling  blue." 

Again,  on  the  Tenth  of  June,  1869,  he  writes 
from  Zermatt  : — ''We  had  a  splendid  view  of  the 
Fleschhorn  Glacier  as  we  ascended  the  Zermatt 
Valley,  and  of  the  great  Trift  Glacier,  dazzlingly 
white  and  delicately  blue.  Then  the  majestic  Mat- 
terhorn  came  in  sight,  glowing  in  the  setting  sun, 
with  a  veil  of  cloud  below  its  summit.  It  rises  4,000 
feet  in  solitary  and  imposing  sublimity  from  a  line 
of  snow-capped  mountains  10,000  feet  high,  its  sides 
often  too  precipitous  to  afford  a  rest  for  the  snow, 


Cirencester.  6^ 

so  that  its  rocks  contrast  in  naked  grandeur  with  the 
glistening  white  of  the  glacier  that  surrounds  its 
feet.  The  tail  of  the  great  Gorner  Glacier  curls 
down  from  amongst  these  snowy  heights,  bristling 
with  blue  pinnacles  of  ice,  a  magnificent  w^aterfall 
descending  by  its  side,  and  in  the  foreground  pine 
forests,  with  undulating  mountain  pasture  slopes, 
dotted  with  chalets,  and  the  white  torrent  of  the  river 
foaming  in  the  valley  beneath.  Truly  we  have  seen 
the  works  of  the  Creator  in  ail  their  majesty,  and  the 
Psalmist's  songs  of  praise  have  often  been  remem- 
bered, to  the  glory  of  Him  *  who  by  His  strength 
setteth  fast  tlie  mountains,  being  girded  with  power.'  " 
This  journey  was  a  great  refreshment  to  Stanley 
Pumphrey.  His  father's  health  failed  in  the  follow- 
ing year.  He  paid  a  last  visit  to  his  son  in  Ciren- 
cester, and  the  Christmas  of  1870  Stanley  spent  at 
Worcester.  A  few  weeks  later  he  was  receiving  his 
father's  dying  charge  by  his  bedside,  ''Thou  wilt  be 
preserved  as  thou  keeps  near  to  Jesus.  Keep  very 
near  to  the  blessed  Saviour.  What  I  desire  for  thee 
is  that  thou  ma)^est  be  made  a  blessing,  and  that  thy 
ministry  may  be  in  demonstration  of  the  Spirit  and 
of  power,  and  then  whether  the  words  be  few  or 
many,  they  will  touch  the  heart  and  carry  the  bless- 
ing with  them."  The  day  before  his  father  died  he 
was  visited  by  his  son-in-law  from  Leominster,  when 
he  prayed  that  as  Jacob  ere  he  died  blessed  the  two 
sons  of  Joseph,  so  he  might  be  permitted  to  bless  his 
son  and  son-in-law,  saying,  "The  God  which  fed  me 
all  my  life  long  unto  this  day,  the  angel  which  re- 
deemed me  from  all  evil,  bless  the  lads,"  and  thus, 


6S  Me7nories  of  Stanley  Pumphrey. 

early  in  187 1,  his  father  passed  away  to  be  for  ever 
with  the  Lord. 

The  horrors  of  the  Franco-Prussian  war  were  now 
startling  Europe,  and  the  fearful  destruction  of  life 
appeared  like  the  pouring  out  of  a  vial  of  wrath.  ''  I 
could  have  cried  over  the  news  yesterday,"  Stanley 
wrote,  as  day  after  day  tidings  of  bloodshed  and 
death  were  telegraphed,  ''and  yet  how  utterly  im- 
possible it  is  to  approach  a  realizing  conception  of 
these  most  horrid  deeds." 

The  Friends  did  their  utmost  to  assist  the  poor 
non-combatants.  Several  Friends  worked  personally, 
at  much  self-sacrifice,  in  and  around  Metz,  in  the  dis- 
tribution of  succour  in  connection  with  the  War  Vic- 
tims Fund. 

Stanley,  however,  keenly  as  he  mourned  over  the 
desolation  and  sympathized  with  the  sufferers,  felt 
that  his  work  at  that  time  was  in  Gloucestershire.  In 
conjunction  with  Cirencester  Friends  he  attended  in 
regular  course  the  Monthly  Meetings  at  Nailsworth 
and  Painswick.  Chartering  a  coach  for  the  day,  they 
would  be  off  in  a  body  to  the  little  country  Meeting 
among  the  Cotswolds,  enjoying  the  ride,  and  taking 
the  sunshine  of  Christian  cheerfulness  with  them. 
Ever  fond  of  flowers,  the  clusters  of  yellow  broom, 
and  the  broad  blue  patches  of  viper's  bugloss  at  tlie 
roadside,  or  some  beautiful  fern  on  the  banks,  would 
call  forth  exclamations  of  pleasure,  and  on  reaching 
their  destination  the  charming  quaintness  of  such  a 
unique  man  as  Antony  Fewster  was  sure  to  enlist 
abundant  interest.  Such  a  man  now  belongs  to  the 
past,  apt  in  patristic  lore,  standing  in  the  Friends* 


Cirencester.  6g 

Gallery,  as  the  tall  old  man  was  wont,  quoting  Au- 
gustine, Tertullian  and  Chrysostom  to  confirm  his 
text,  and  enforcing  his  argument  with  his  walking- 
stick  upon  the  Meeting  House  floor. 

In  Cirencester  itself  there  were  also  men  of  mark, 
for  Gloucestershire  has  ever  been  noted  for  its  forci- 
ble men.  There  was  Isaac  Pitt,  the  firm  upholder 
of  church  affairs  as  in  his  innermost  conscience  he 
believed  right,  standing  on  one  memorable  occasion 
to  read  the  minute  of  the  dissolution  of  the  old  Glou- 
cester and  Wilts  Quarterly  Meeting.  The  ready  ac- 
cess from  town  to  town  by  railway  communication, 
and  the  changes  in  population  from  country  districts 
to  city  centres  had  made  some  change  requisite,  and 
it  was  proposed  to  unite  the  Gloucestershire  Meet- 
ings to  the  Western  District,  making  a  more  compact 
whole.  At  the  same  time  there  was  probably  some 
inner  sense  in  the  minds  of  many  present  that  the 
Society  of  Friends  had  not  prospered,  as  it  ought  to 
have  prospered,  and  there  were  sad  hearts  and  tear- 
ful eyes  respecting  the  approaching  change.  Yet 
the  new  arrangement  was  undoubtedly  right,  and 
has  proved  a  blessing  to  all  concerned,  strengthen- 
ing intercourse,  and  binding  together  one  meeting 
with  another.  The  Friends  had  sat  patiently  for  six 
hours  in  their  meeting  that  day,  when  Isaac  Pitt 
rose  to  read  the  final  minute.  But  the  strong  man 
was  vmnerved.  The  words  trembled  on  his  lips.  He 
stood  awhile  dumb  with  sorrow,  for  he  was  standing, 
as  it  were,  on  the  threshold  of  the  past,  to  go  forth 
and  embrace  the  dangers  and  the  hopes  of  the  living 
present. 


/O  Memories  of  Stanley  Pumphrey. 

The  bearings  of  Stanley  Pumphrey's  life  were  now 
undergoing  important  changes,  and  the  pointings  of 
the  compass  indicated  no  long  settlement  at  Ciren- 
cester. The  joyous  companionship  of  her  whom  he 
had  so  tenderly  loved,  could  be  his  no  more  on  earth. 
He  had  no  children  to  provide  for,  and  possessed 
with  a  very  moderate  income,  it  seemed  as  though 
his  own  wants  could  be  easily  supplied,  and  his  time 
set  at  liberty  for  more  direct  Gospel  service.  On 
the  31st  of  March,  187 1,  we  accordingly  find  him 
writing  :— 

*'  Our  thoughts  have  been  earnestly  occupied  as  to 
our  future  course,  and  I  am  almost  brought  to  the 
conclusion  that  I  must  relinquish  business.  Our 
present  expectation  is  that  we  shall  break  up  the 
house  at  Cirencester,  midsummer  twelvemonth,  and 
then  return  and  take  a  small  house  at  Worcester, 
which  may  be  a  home  for  sisters,  a  place  too,  that  I 
may  regard  as  home,  and  to  which  I  may  at  times 
return  to  rest.  But  I  neither  expect  nor  wish  for 
much  rest  below.  The  call  has  been  given  impres- 
sively in  many  ways  to  entire  consecration,  and  I 
ask  for  grace  that  when  separated  unto  the  Gospel 
of  God,  I  may  be  so  preserved  that  I  may  accomplish 
my  course  with  joy,  and  the  ministry  which  I  have 
received  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  to  testify  the  Gospel  of 
the  Grace  of  God.  I  hope  I  am  not  under  delusion. 
I  tremble  lest  I  should  take  a  seriously  responsible 
step  and  find  it  a  mistake.  Truly  if  thus  called  I 
may  acknowledge  that  it  is  not  according  to  w^orks 
but  according  to  His  own  purpose  and  grace." 

In  accordance  with  this  line  of  thought,  Stanley 


Cirencester,  71 

Pumphrey  retired  from  business  in  1872,  and  on  the 
20th  June  he  bade  farewell  to  the  workmen  and  as- 
sistants in  his  employ.  A  parting  excursion  to  Bird- 
lip,  among  the  Cotswold  Hills,  was  made  the  occasion 
for  the  expression  of  the  goodwill  and  cordiality  that 
had  existed  between  employer  and  employed.  Ban- 
ners and  inscriptions  such  as  "Unity  is  strength," 
decked  the  dining-hall  at  Birdlip.  "  If  you  have  the 
unity,  Mr.  Pumphrey,  we  have  the  strength,"  was  the 
remark  of  the  men  at  dinner,  for  truly  the  sinew  and 
muscle  of  the  working  man  must  co-operate  with  the 
brain  power  and  finance  of  the  capitalist  to  achieve 
success.  After  dinner  Stanley  made  his  speech  in 
the  following  fashion  : — 

**In  the  year  sixty  one  I  first  came  to  your  town, 
And  never  regret  having  made  it  my  home. 
We  have  seen  many  changes  as  years  hastened  by, 
And  now  to  recall  them  a  little  we'll  try. 
Our  workshops  were  then,  if  I  make  no  mistake, 
In  the  cottage,  pulled  down  in  order  to  make 
The  new  warehouse  for  bar  iron  instead  ;  « 

And  the  implement  store  was  a  miserable  shed. 
The  front  shop  was  dark,  unpleasant  and  low, 
And  the  show  rooms  were  worse  both  above  and  below. 
The  first  shops  we  put  up  for  six  men  were  intended, 
And  still  as  our  number  increased  we  extended. 
Then  came  the  new  show  room,  with  gallery  round, 
Where  the  mantels  and  grates  and  the  fenders  are  found. 
Our  next  alteration  was  building  the  stores 
With  the  implements  down  on  the  lowermost  floors  ; 
And  the  club  room  above,  which  a  benefit  proved. 
And  I  hope  you'll  support  it  though  now  it  is  moved. 
In  the  year  1870,  third  of  November, 
Occurred  the  sad  fire,  we  have  cause  to  remember 


72  Memories  of  Stanley  Pumpkrey. 

What  mes  and  confsision  it  made  us  I  bot  still 
Good  often  terns  up  from  the  seemingly  ill. 
So  vre  found  it,  as  the  new  front  testified. 
By  Newcombe  the  builder  right  well  edified. 
And  now  when  I  thought  I  should  leave  it  all  right 
Some  further  improvements  are  coming  to  light. 
Fresh  stores  axe  erected,  fresh  warehouses  made. 
The  better  to  cope  with  the  increase  of  trade, 
"Wholesale  and  retail  brought  in  closer  relatioii 
By  removing  our  friend  Henry  Buncombe's  locatiofi. 
May  your  plans  be  successful  the  farther  they  go. 
And  ^o-zA  fortune  attend  Alexander  &  Co., 
May  they  still  keep  their  place,  or  if  evo-  ootdooe 
Let  it  be  by  the  firm  A.exancer  and  Son, 
Well,  my  friends,  we  are  parting,  v.  hat  more  shall  I  say  ? 
Through  the  years  that  have  passed  we've  held  on  our  way. 
Kind  words  and  good  c.qs^  may  des«-vedly  stand. 
Let  all  else  be  written  but  only  in  sand 
Pull  together  forbearingly,  that  is  the  plan 
For  pueasantly  working  '  twrst  master  an-i  man. 
May  we  all,  O  my  friends,  who  so  happily  mtet 
Round  this  table,  hereafter  at  down  at  His  feet, 
Wbo  to  the  city  above  has  gone  on  before. 
Where  all  Wesangs  await  us  in  limitless  store, 
^       And  lime  passes  s-3  rs^eei-v  'tis  heeded  no  mc^e." 

Thus  the  curtain  falls  on  one  of  the  brightest 
epochs  in  Stanley  Pumphrev's  life.  His  career 
at  Cirencester  will  long  be  remembered  as  a  time 
when  he  stoDd  forth  as  a  man,  mingling  in  the 
busy  traffic  of  men,  the  conscientious  tradesman 
and  kind-hearted  employer,  the  active  citizen  fore- 
most in  temperance  and  philanthropic  effort,  de- 
voting himself  to  the  well-being  of  others,  and  at 
the  same  time  the  simshine  of  his  own  quiet  home. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

IRELAND. 

In  1872  Stanley  Pumphrey  purchased  a  comfortable 
house,  No.  41,  Britannia  Square,  Worcester,  which 
for  the  remainder  of  his  life  became  his  home.  But 
it  was  with  no  intent  to  indulge  in  ease  that  he  es- 
tablished himself  at  Worcester,  and  he  was  very  sel- 
dom at  home  for  any  length  of  time. 

He  delighted  to  open  his  house  to  all  his  friends, 
and  greatly  enjoyed  the  privilege  of  entertaining 
them.  Nothing  pleased  him  better  than  to  gather 
them  together  in  his  drawing  room,  to  listen  to  such 
men  as  Theophilus  Waldmeier,  or  other  advocates  of 
Mission  work.  He  was  ever  ready,  when  at  home, 
to  plead  the  cause  of  Temperance,  and  as  far  as  pos- 
sible to  help  fonvard  the  city  mission. 

A  visit  to  Friends  in  the  Eastern  Counties  occu- 
pied a  considerable  time  ;  and  in  1873  and  1874  he 
travelled  extensively  in  Ireland,  as  a  minister  of  the 
Gospel,  with  certificates  from  his  meetings  in  Eng- 
land. 

Commencing  at  Waterford,  in  February,  1873,  i^ 
company  w^ith  his  uncle,  John  M.  Albright,  of  Charl- 
bury,  Oxon,  he  quickly  received  a  cordial  Irish  wel- 
come. ''  Indeed  we  are  not  going  to  make  strangers 
of  you,"  was  the  greeting  there.  While  driving  to 
4 


74  Memories  of  Sta?iley  Pumphrey. 

the  residence  of  William  Roberts,  a  valued  minister, 
the  horse  shied,  and  they  were  all  thrown  into  a 
snowdrift,  without,  however,  sustaining  much  injury. 
They  also  called  on  Thomas  White  Jacob,  of  Tra- 
more,  who  for  many  years  was  the  clerk  of  Dublin 
Yearly  Meeting.  A  meeting  on  Foreign  Missions 
with  the  schoolboys  at  Newtown  followed,  and  they 
afterwards  proceeded  to  Clonmel,  a  place  hallowed 
by  memories  of  the  early  life  of  Sarah  Grubb.  Near 
Limerick  a  meeting  was  held  at  Pallas-newri,  a 
place  surrounded  by  wild  open  tracts  of  barren  coun- 
try, with  houses  thinly  scattered,  and  many  of  the 
cabins  excessively  miserable  and  poor.  The  Protes- 
tants were  very  grateful  for  the  visit ;  one  man  re- 
marking, "  I  should  like  to  hear  the  Friends  every 
day,  for  it  is  the  real  Gospel  we  have  listened  to,  and 
nothing  else."  The  meeting  held  long,  for  the  peo- 
ple seemed  thirsting. 

The  next  day  they  drove  to  Ballingrane,  near 
Rathkeale.  This  is  one  of  the  principal  settlements 
of  the  Palatine  German  refugees,  who,  when  perse- 
cuted in  their  own  country,  fled  to  Ireland  in  the 
reign  of  Queen  Anne,  and  had  allotments  of  land 
given  them.  John  Wesley  found  these  people  in  an 
uncared  for  and  degenerate  state,  and  organized 
several  congregations  among  them,  which  are  still 
maintained.  They  are  distinguished  by  greater  in- 
dustry and  cleanliness  than  the  surrounding  Irish ; 
but  they  suffer  to  some  extent  from  the  physical  and 
mental  deterioration  consequent  on  intermarriage 
from  generation  to  generation.  Balligrane  was  the 
parent  church  of  the  first  Wesleyan  congregation  in 


Ireland.  75 

the  United  States.  The  chapel  is  a  neat  structure, 
and  holds  about  150  people. 

From  here  a  visit  was  paid  to  the  meeting  at  Ros- 
crea,  where  Mary  Dudley  used  to  worship  ;  and  while 
in  the  neighbourhood,  Stanley  went  to  see  the  beau- 
tiful domain  of  Lord  Rosse,  and  the  enormous  re- 
flecting telescope.  The  telescope  is  suspended  be- 
tween two  lofty,  strongly-built  walls,  with  elaborate 
machinery  for  regulating  its  action,  but  it  has  no 
horizontal  movement. 

At  Cork  several  large  meetings  were  held,  but  the 
state  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  and  of  the  Protestants 
generally  in  the  south-west  of  Ireland,  was  not  en- 
couraging. In  Cork,  as  in  Dublin  and  some  other 
places,  Stanley  felt  it  his  duty  to  pay  family  visits  to 
the  members  of  the  meeting,  and  many  of  these  op- 
portunities for  private  religious  intercourse  were 
truly  servicable.  In  some  cases  intemperance  had 
blighted  religious  life  :  in  others,  young  men  received 
the  visit  with  great  cordiality.  One  old  man  spoke 
of  the  infidel'  principles  imbibed  in  early  life,  and  how 
he  had  been  drifting  off  from  all  connection  with  the 
Church  of  Christ,  when  he  was  asked  by  an  uncle  to 
go  and  hear  an  American  Friend  at  Limerick.  Wish- 
ing to  please  him,  he  went  to  hear  ''what  the  Quaker 
had  to  say,"  The  minister  rose  with  the  text,  as  it 
stands  in  our  old  version,  '■'■  Almost  thou  persuadest 
me  to  be  a  Christian,"  depicting  the  backslider's  path 
in  the  mazes  of  doubt,  tracking  out  all  his  wanderings 
from  the  truth,  so  that  the  young  man  was  thorough- 
ly convinced  and  brought  back  to  the  fold,  and  now 
as  an  old  man,  was  quietly  rejoicing  in  Christ. 


^^6  Memories  of  Stanley  Piimphrey. 

Another  call  was  on  three  elderly  ladies  who  were 
sisters.  At  one  time  they  had  been  gay,  but  had  be- 
come serious.  The  eldest  of  them  told  of  a  previous 
visit  of  the  same  kind,  she  had  received  many  years 
before  from  Sarah  Squire.  She  was  just  then  very 
busy  with  housekeeping,  and  was  especially  anxious 
to  provide  everything  first-rate  for  the  ministering 
Friend.  Before  the  interview  with  Sarah  Squire  she 
exclaimed,  "  If  Sarah  Sqnire  does  not  speak  to  Mar- 
tha's state,  I  shall  not  have  much  faith  in  her."  The 
interview  came.  The  mother  and  the  sister  were  ap- 
propriately addressed,  and  then  there  was  a  pause,  fol- 
lowed by  Sarah  Squire  recommencing,  "  The  state  of 
Martha  has  also  been  before  me " — and  the  busy 
young  lady  was  dealt  with  pretty  plainly. 

A  venerable  patriarch  of  eighty-five,  at  Parsons- 
town,  who  had  his  children,  grandchildren,  and  great- 
grandchildren around  him,  remarked  that  the  Friends 
had  been  in  a  very  low  state  in  his  youth,  strict  about 
dress  and  language,  but  that  this  had  often  seemed 
the  substance  of  their  reliQ-ion. 

"  If  Friends  and  Methodists  could  be  pounded  to- 
gether," hesaid,  '' it  would  make  agood  combination." 

"  What  is  it  we  want  from  the  Methodists  ?  "  Stan- 
ley enquired. 

''  A  good  deal  of  fire,"  he  replied  ;  ''  and  the  Meth- 
odists would  be  all  the  better  for  some  of  your  sta- 
bility." 

There  was  at  that  time  hardly  any  ministry  in  the 
Friend's  Meetings  at  Parsonstown,  except  when  the 
occasional  visit  of  a  travelling  Friend  occurred. 
*'  Sixteen   sermons  in    fourteen   years  would   be  as 


Ireland.  y/ 

•much  as  I  heard  in  the  meetings  of  the  Friends," 
was  the  old  man's  testimony,  ''and  now  you  see 
what  it  has  brought  you  to.  Meetings  that  had 
three  hundred  members  are  now  a  mere  handful." 
The  old  man  himself  had  joined  the  Wesleyans 
when  young,  and  soon  felt  called  to  preach.  This 
brought  him  into  great  conflict  of  mind.  He  took 
up  the  Bible,  and  asking  God  for  direction,  opened 
on  the  passage,  ''  Let  no  man  despise  thy  youth." 
His  doubts  vanished  ;  and  since  then  he  has  preached 
the  Word  as  opportunity  presented.  He  had  a  good 
farm,  and  felt  concerned  for  the  neighbours  round 
him.  He  gathered  them  together,  held  meetings 
with  them,  many  were  much  blessed,  some  of  whom 
are  already  in  heaven,  and  others  on  the  way  there. 
His  own  son  became  deeply  concerned  about  his 
soul  ;  and  the  father  being  anxious  that  these  im- 
pressions should  not  be  dissipated,  gave  him  some 
work  to  do  where  he  would  be  alone.  He  went  after 
awhile  to  see  him.  His  son  was  gone  ;  but  he  saw 
the  pages  of  the  open  Book  blotted  with  tears  of 
penitence,  and  the  father  praised  the  Lord  whose 
blessed  Spirit  was  working  in  the  young  m.an's  soul. 
Benjamin  the  son  returned  to  his  father,  and  said, 
*'  Father,  God  has  forgiven  me  ;  I  have  found  peace." 
''  Flold  it  fast,  my  dear  lad,  hold  it  fast,  go  and  tell 
your  companions  what  the  Lord  has  done  for  your 
soul."  The  young  man  did  so,  and  forty  souls  were 
brought  to  Christ.  The  old  patriarch's  voice  was 
choked  with  emotion,  and  the  tears  coursed  down 
his  cheeks,  as  he  humbly  told  Stanley  of  all  the  bless- 
ings that  had  since  rested  upon  him. 


78  Memories  of  Stanley  Ptimphrey. 

Stanley  and  his  uncle  proceeded  northwards 
through  Dublin,  to  Bessbrook,  Grange,  Moy,  Bel- 
fast, and  Lisburn.  Here  they  met  Joel  and  Hannah 
Bean  from  Iowa,  and  Mary  Rogers,  another  minis- 
ter, with  whom  they  soon  formed  close  friendship, 
and  whose  ministry  proved  very  helpful.  One  young 
man  in  this  district  was  in  continual  terror  of  being 
shot  down  by  the  Ribbon-men,  because  he  had  dis- 
missed an  incompetent  bailiff.  His  brother  and  him- 
self had  to  be  guarded  by  the  police  wherever  they 
went.  The  new  bailiff  had  been  shot  a  week  after 
he  commenced  his  duties,  without  giving  any  cause 
of  offence,  and  thus  the  Ribbon-men  frequently  at- 
tempted to  put  any  one  to  death  who  incurred  their 
displeasure. 

Stanley  returned  home  to  devote  a  few  weeks  to 
business,  and  in  April  1873,  was  again  in  Dublin  en- 
gaged in  visiting  meetings  and  members  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  the  city,  and  in  attendance  on  the  Dub- 
lin Yearly  Meeting  then  in  session.  John  Frederick 
Hansen,  a  young  Norwegian  preacher  from  America, 
was  present,  en  route  for  Gospel  service  in  Norway, 
Denmark  and  Sweden.  Robert  Walter  Douglas,  of 
Wilmington,  Ohio,  with  William  Haydock  as  his  com- 
panion, and  Yardley  Warner  from  Philadelphia,  were 
also  in  Dublin,  besides  Joel  and  Hannah  Bean  and 
Mary  Rogers. 

A  prayer  meeting  was  convened  before  the  Yearly 
Meeting  to  invoke  a  special  blessing,  and  with  such 
a  group  of  gifted  ministers,  there  was  abundance  of 
good  counsel  and  Gospel  exhortation.  At  one  of 
the  meetings  Robert  Walter  Douglas  preached  from 


Ireland,  79 

the  text,  '*  Behold  I  will  make  thee  a  new  sharp 
threshing  instrument  having  teeth,  and  thou  shalt 
thresh  the  mountains  and  beat  them  small,  and  make 
the  hills  as  chaff."  ''  The  Church,"  he  said,  *'  should 
be  such  an  instrument  as  this  in  the  hand  of  the 
Lord.  We  may  have  the  most  perfect  organization, 
and  every  arrangement  that  can  be  desired,  and  yet 
be  inoperative.  I  lately  saw  a  large  mill,  the  build- 
ing was  excellent,  the  machinery  perfect,  but  there 
was  no  water  power,  and  the  mill  lay  useless.  The 
power  we  need,  i-s  the  power  of  the  Spirit  of  God. 
The  charge  is,  '  Tarry  at  Jerusalem  until  ye  be  en- 
dued with  power  from  on  high.'  The  Apostles  did 
tarry,  the  power  came,  and  the  little  church  of  one 
hundred  and  twenty  at  once  became  a  new  sharp 
threshing  instrument,  and  three  thousand  uncon- 
verted souls  were  threshed  out  in  one  day.  Our 
early  Friends  were  endued  with  this  power,  and  in 
this  lay  their  strength.  We  may  have  been  too 
much  disposed  to  rest  in  what  they  accomplished. 
We  must  ourselves  be  like  a  new  sharp  threshing 
instrument.  If  a  church  is  not  aggressive  it  will  lose 
ground  ;  if  it  is  aggressive,  all  church  history  shows 
that  it  will  gain.  A  besieged  city  will  surely  fall  at 
last,  if  it  only  acts  on  the  defensive.  Gideon  with 
his  little  band  went  forth  and  conquered,  crying, 
'The  sword  of  the  Lord  and  of  Gideon.'  Let  us 
not,  therefore,  be  discouraged  by  the  fewness  of  our 
numbers,  for  through  the  strength  of  the  Lord,  one 
may  chase  a  thousand,  and  two  put  ten  thousand  to 
flight." 

A   special  meeting  was  held  for  young  men  and 


8o  Memories  of  Stanley  Pumphrey. 

women,  on  the  subject  of  the  Gospel  ministry,  en- 
couraging them  to  the  study  of  Holy  Scripture. 
Large  meetings  with  the  public  were  likewise  ap- 
pointed in  Merrion  Hall,  in  which  Robert  W.  Doug- 
las took  the  leading  part.  Other  meetings  followed 
with  enquirers,  and  with  those  who  had  recently 
given  their  hearts  to  Christ.  There  was  no  excite- 
ment, and  the  power  and  presence  of  the  Lord  were 
evidently  felt.  In  one  of  these  meetings,  forty-six 
Friends  spoke  in  testimony  or  in  prayer,  most  of 
them  young  people.  Stanley  remarks  afterwards, 
''More  persons  have  spoken  to  me  privately  in  con- 
cern about  their  souls  than  I  have  been  accustomed 
to.  I  deeply  feel  the  responsibility  this  lays  upon 
me,  and  how  much  I  lack  wisdom  to  deal  with  sucli. 
It  is  a  very  solemn  position  to  be  placed  in.  I  long 
to  help,  and  tremble  lest  I  should  mislead." 

At  Willow  Park  Stanley  had  the  pleasure  of  meet- 
ing Robert  Pearsall  Smith  of  Germantown,  Philadel- 
phia. Respecting  his  intercourse  with  him,  he  says  : 
— "  Robert  Pearsall  Smith  seems  to  enjoy  fellowship 
with  Christ  to  the  full.  He  is  so  equable  and  happy, 
and  illustrates  the  text  he  appropriates,  *  My  soul 
shall  dwell  at  ease'  He  says  that  in  America  their 
most  successful  evangelists  are  not  eloquent,  and 
that  they  make  small  account  of  eloquence  ;  the 
unction  of  the  Holy  Spirit  is  everything.  His  way 
is  wonderfully  opened  before  him.  He  has  access 
to  the  clergy  of  London,  and  has  just  had  a  Confer- 
ence arranged  for  him  with  forty  Primitive  Method- 
ist Ministers,  and  another  with  a  band  of  Wesleyans. 
The  Meeting  for  Suiferings  has  allowed  him  the  use 


Ireland.  8i 

of  a  room  at  Devonshire  House,  and  thus  he  gains 
access  to  all  classes,  and  seeks  to  lead  all  to  full  con- 
secration, close  communion  with  the  Lord,  and  the 
baptism  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  He  admires  a  man  who 
is  fond  of  horse  exercise,  a  natural,  joyous,  unre- 
strained man,  full  of  the  power  of  the  Spirit.  Chris- 
tians have  not  been  natural  and  joyous  as  they  should 
be.  'When  w^e  were  in  Switzerland,' adds  Pearsall 
Smith,  '  we  were  a  merry  party,  but  amidst  our 
merriment  there  was  never  a  time  when  we  could 
not  have  broken  off  and  at  once  knelt  down  in 
prayer.'  And  so  talking  of  prayer,  they  knelt  in 
prayer,  and  Robert  Pearsall  Smith  offered  a  sweet 
humble  prayer,  confidingly  asking  forgiveness  for 
all  mistakes  and  ignorances,  that  we  might  be  led 
forward  into  clearer  light  and  that  nothing  we  had 
done  might  injure  the  holy  cause. 

Stanley  Pumphrey  proceeded  from  Dublin  with  J. 
M.  Albright  to  Clara  and  Edenderry.  In  this  dis- 
trict they  found  themselves  among  people  of  thor- 
oughly Irish  type,  the  men  tall,  thin,  and  gaunt,  with 
prominent  teeth,  and  habited  in  long  coats,  knee- 
breeches  and  high-crowmed  hats.  The  garb  of  the 
women  was  more  picturesque,  full  bordered  white 
caps  setting  off  their  complexions,  a  coloured  hand- 
kerchief thrown  over  their  heads,  and  black  cloaks 
reaching  almost  to  the  feet.  Calling  at  one  of  the 
cottages  they  found  it  a  most  wretched  cabin,  with 
holes  in  the  roof,  no  w4ndow^,  lots  of  smoke,  and  a  de- 
plorably dirty  floor. 

"  I  should  think  your  fowls  lay  night  and  day  ?  " 
was  the  travellers'  question  as   they   saw   eggs   by 


82  Memories  of  Stanley  Pumphrey, 

thousands  lying  in  the  street,  waiting  to  be  sent  to 
the  Dublin  market.  "  No,  sir,  they  lay  by  steam," 
was  the  reply.  At  Clara,  Stanley  partook  of  the 
hospitality  of  Marcus  Goodbody,  in  the  same  house 
where  John  Bright  and  William  Forster  had  been 
guests,  both  of  them  men  truly  concerned  for  the 
best  welfare  of  Ireland.  Some  one  spoke  disparag- 
ingly in  John  Bright's  presence,  during  his  visit  to 
Clara,  of  a  revival  preacher,  because  he  preached 
about  "  nothing  but  Christ."  John  Bright  promptly 
replied,  "  What  else  should  the  Christian  minister 
preach  about  !  "  and  at  once  silenced  the  objection. 

In  Queen's  county  they  passed  the  estate  at  Dur- 
row,  belonging  to  the  family  of  Lord  Norbury.  Forty 
years  ago  Lord  Norbury  was  living  there  doing  his 
best  for  his  tenantry,  and  employing  three  hundred 
men  in  the  rebuilding  of  his  mansion.  But  he  in- 
curred the  displeasure  of  some  miscreant  who  shot 
him  dead.  Since  then  none  of  the  family  have  lived 
there,  and  the  whole  district  has  suffered  from  the 
effects  of  that  one  evil  deed. 

At  Ballitore  our  friends  visited  the  large  old  School 
House,  which  for  one  hundred  years  was  the  leading 
seminary  for  Friends  in  Ireland.  Four  generations  of 
the  Shackleton  family  presided  over  the  school  for 
about  twenty-five  years  each.  In  this  school  Edmund 
Burke  was  taught,  and  formed  a  life-long  friendship 
with  Richard  Shackleton  ;  and  here,  more  recently, 
Cardinal  Cullen  and  Jonathan  Pim,  formerly  M.P. 
for  Dublin,  sat  side  by  side.  The  Cardinal  publicly 
alluded  to  his  Quaker  education,  and  was  always 
friendly  with  the  Friends.      In  the  Friends'  burial 


Ireland.  83 

ground  rest  the  remains  of  Job  Scott  and  other  worth- 
ies. Stanley's  host  at  Ballitore  was  Richard  Shackle- 
ton,  who  was  descended,  on  his  father's  side,  from  a 
long  line  of  honourable  men  of  that  name,  and  on  his 
mother's  side  from  Margaret  Fell  of  Swarthmore. 

Later  on  in  the  same  year  Stanley  proceeded  in 
company  with  William  J.  Dawson  to  Carricknahorna, 
the  residence  of  Thomas  Dixon  and  family,  near 
Ballyshannon,  county  Donegal.  Here  they  passed 
through  the  intensely  wild  scenery  of  the  west  coast 
skirting  Donegal  Bay.  The  western  highlands  of 
Donegal  stretch  for  twenty  miles  to  the  north,  ter- 
minating in  Slievh  League,  whose  precipitous  cliffs 
tower  2900  feet  perpendicularly  above  the  Atlantic. 
To  the  south  the  long  line  of  the  Darty  Mountains 
in  the  county  Sligo  terminate  in  the  rugged  outline 
of  Ben  Brisky.  The  rocks  of  hard  limestone  are 
tilted  up  one  above  another  like  the  bulwarks  of 
some  rugged  fortification,  against  the  giant  swell  of 
the  ocean.  Truly,  as  Stanley  says,  ''  The  works  of 
the  Lord  are  great,  sought  out  of  all  them  that  have 
pleasure  therein." 

The  road  to  Carricknahorna  runs  through  the 
wildest  parts  of  the  country,  moorland,  mountain  and 
lakes  all  around,  and  the  house  itself  was  of  primi- 
tive construction.  But  the  true  hearted  hospitality 
of  the  inmates  was  unbounded.  The  son  and  daugh- 
ter had  established  a  First  Day  School  which  was  in 
vigorous  action,  while  the  father  called  systemati- 
cally on  the  cottagers  and  read  the  Scriptures  to  them. 
A  Temperance  Society  was  in  actiA^e  operation,  and 
Thomas  Dixon  and  his  family  were  causing  the  light 


84  Memories  of  Stanley  Puniphrey. 

of  aggressive  Christianity  to  shine  among  the  wilds 
of  Donegal.  When  the  Sabbath  came,  the  Meeting 
House  was  crowded  with  Protestants,  and  a  heart- 
searching  sermon  was  addressed  to  them  on  the 
broad  and  narrow  way,  one  or  other  of  which  each  of 
them  must  choose. 

At  Ballyshannon  the  meeting  was  arranged  in  the 
Church  schoolroom,  and  notice  of  it  was  posted  on 
the  churchyard  gates.  The  incumbent,  the  Rev.  S. 
G.  Cochrane,  threw  open  his  own  house  to  the 
Friends.  These  meetings  with  the  public  were  com- 
menced by  reading  the  Hoty  Scriptures  and  prayer, 
and  Stanley  took  for  his  text  at  the  evening  meeting, 
Romans  viii.  i.  '*  There  is  therefore  now  no  con- 
demnation to  them  that  are  in  Christ  Jesus,  who  walk 
not  after  the  flesh  but  after  the  Spirit." 

Thence  he  proceeded  to  Londonderry,  Belfast  and 
Bessbrook.  In  visiting  Lurgan  he  made  the  acquaint- 
ance of  a  Friend  who  some  years  ago  felt  it  his  duty 
to  come  and  live  there  to  set  himself  more  at  liberty 
to  attend  meetings.  Lurgan  Meeting  at  one  time 
had  seventy  families  belonging  to  it,  and  was  in  some 
sort  the  parent  meeting  of  Ireland,  but  had  at  that 
time  become  much  reduced,  and  the  Meeting  House 
premises  were  sadly  neglected,  and  in  a  ruinous  con- 
dition. The  congregation  was  so  scattered  that  one 
old  man,  had  often  sat  down  there  alone.  Friends 
were  talking  of  selling  part  of  the  premises  to  pay 
the  heavy  debt  that  hung  upon  them,  but  this  one 
old  Friend  entreated  them  not  to  do  it,  saying, 
''Don't  ye  do  it  Friends,  the  Meeting  will  yet  re- 
vive."    It  has  revived,  and  in  1874  they  had  an  at- 


Ireland.  85 

tendance  varying  from  forty  to  eighty,  to  a  consider- 
able extent  owing  to  the  faithful  labours  of  the  min- 
istering Friend  referred  to.  The  Meeting  may  not 
be  all  that  a  church  should  be,  yet  when  Stanley  vis- 
ited it  there  were  sixty-four  persons  present.  *'  It's 
all  true,"  exclaimed  the  old  man  after  Stanley  had 
been  speaking,  '*  Bless  the  Lord,  He  does  not  forget 
us,  and  sends  His  servants  amongst  us  still."  Noth- 
ing would  satisfy  him  but  that  Stanley  must  partake 
of  a  meal  with  him.  He  was  living  in  a  little  room  six 
or  eight  feet  square,  but  the  tea  was  all  ready,  with  the 
coarse  wheaten  cakes  and  raspberry  jam  of  his  own 
manufacture  ;  and  the  meal  was  encompassed  with 
the  sunshine  of  contentment  and  the  spirit  of  praise. 

While  here  Stanley  Pumphrey  met  Elizabeth  L. 
Comstock  from  Michigan.  She  preached  a  power- 
ful sermon  on  the  names  of  Jehovah,  as  typical  of 
the  revelations  of  God, — 

I. — Jehovah-Jireh,  *'  the  Lord  will  provide  ;"  the 
blessed  doctrine  of  sacrifice  and  atonement  for  our 
sakes,  revealed  in  the  mount  to  Abraham,  and  de- 
clared by  Abraham  to  his  son  Isaac,  *'  My  son,  God 
will  provide  himself  a  lamb  for  a  burnt  offering." 

2. — Jehovah-Nissi,  *' The  Lord  my  banner,"  open- 
ing out  the  great  truths  in  Exodus,  that  the  Lord 
himself  fights  Israel's  battles,  and  goeth  before  his 
people  as  the  captain  of  salvation,  to  win  the  victory 
for  them,  and  that 

"  As  Moses  stood  with  arms  spread  wide 
Success  was  found  on  Israel's  side, 
But  when  through  weariness  they  failed, 
That  moment  Amalek  prevailed." 


86  Memories  of  Stanley  Pumphrey. 

So  when  we  go  to  the  Lord  in  all  the  forcibleness  of 
prayer,  though  utter  weakness  in  ourselves,  the  Lord 
Himself  will  carry  on  the  war  against  all  our  spirit- 
ual enemies,  until  the  last  enemy  shall  be  trodden 
under  His  feet. 

3. — Jehovah-Shalom,  "  The  Lord  will  send  peace." 
Each  of  these  marvellous  names  is  in  close  connec- 
tion with  an  altar  of  sacrifice.  Gideon,  in  a  time  of 
distress,  hears  the  word  of  the  Lord  saying  to  him, 
*'  Peace  be  unto  thee,  fear  not,  thou  shalt  not  die," 
and  he  goes  forth,  and  throws  down  his  father's  altar 
of  Baal.  The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  comes  mightily 
upon  him,  and  blowing  the  trumpet,  he  threshes  the 
Midianites. 

4. — Jehovah-Tsidkenu,  "  The  Lord  our  righteous- 
ness." **  This  is  the  name  whereby  He  shall  be 
called,  the  Lord  our  righteousness,"  but  not  only  is 
it  the  name  given  to  the  Messiah,  but  the  Bride,  the 
Church,  takes  the  name  of  her  Heavenly  Bridegroom, 
'*  Judah  shall  be  saved,  Jerusalem  shall  dwell  safely, 
and  this  is  the  name  wherewith  she  shall  be  called, 
The   Lord   our   Righteousness."     (Jeremiah   xxxiii. 

16.) 

5. — Jehovah-Shammah,  **The  Lord  is  there."  The 
Lord  ever  present  with  His  people,  their  joy,  their 
strength,  their  bulwark,  their  salvation.  The  sacri- 
fice, the  Lamb  of  God  has  been  provided,  which 
taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world.  The  war  is  over. 
The  new  city,  with  its  portion  for  every  tribe,  is  built 
up  of  living  stones,  and  Ezekiel  sums  up  his  marvel- 
lous visions,  saying,  *'  And  the  name  of  the  city  from 
that  day  shall  be.  The  Lord  is  there." 


Ireland,  87 

Such  is  an  imperfect  outline  of  a  sermon  from  one 
who  has  been  the  succourer  of  thousands  of  refugees, 
freedmen,  emigrants,  prisoners,  drunkards,  and  home- 
less persons. 

Stanley  Pumpiirey  and  E.  L.  Comstock  moved  on 
to  Belfast,  where  the  latter  had  a  large  meeting  with 
about  2000  women.  Moody  and  Sankey  were  at  that 
time  holding  revival. services  in  the  city,  and  Stanley 
hastened  to  the  noonday  prayer  meeting,  where  one 
thousand  people  were  assembled.  He  dined  with  D. 
L.  Moody,  and  found  him  a  plain  ordinary  man, 
*' nothing  at  all  striking  about  him  in  any  way.  It 
is  another  illustration  that  God  chooses  the  base 
things  of  the  world,  and  things  that  are  despised,  to 
effect  His  purposes,  for  that  God  is  using  him  there 
cannot  be  the  smallest  doubt'' 

At  2  o'clock.  Moody  held  his  midday  meeting. 
After  singing  and  prayer,  he  opened  his  Bible  and 
gave  a  lesson  on  Grace.  ''  It  would  sometimes  help 
us  in  our  Bible  studies,"  he  said,  ''  if  we  used  our 
dictionaries.  Not  one  in  ten  knows  what  grace  is. 
The  best  definition  is  *  unmerited  mercy.*  In  John 
i.  14,  17,  we  find  out  by  Whom  grace  comes,  and  to 
whom  it  comes.  Jesus  Christ  is  the  source  of  grace, 
and  it  is  for  sinners.  In  Romans  v.  15,  we  see  that 
the  Gift,  by  grace,  which  is  by  one  man  Jesus  Christ, 
hath  abounded  unto  many.  Turn  to  the  parable  of 
the  two  sons.  Matt.  xxi.  28-31.  The  Jews  could  not 
receive  the  covenant  of  grace,  of  salvation  by  faith, 
they  were  Abraham's  seed,  they  were  not  Gentile 
sinners,  and  thought  they  had  ground  of  their  own 
on  which  they  could  stand  before  God.     Jesus  says 


88  Memories  of  Stanley  Pumphrcy, 

to  them,  *  Verily  I  say  unto  you,  tliat  the  publicans 
and  the  harlots  go  into  the  kingdom  of  God  before 
you.'  In  Romans  x.  3,  you  will  see  why  it  is  that 
so  many  do  not  accept  the  grace  so  freely  offered 
them,  and  where  they  stumble,  'They  being  igno- 
rant of  God's  righteousness,  and  going  about  to  es- 
tablish their  own  righteousness,  have  not  submitted 
themselves  unto  the  righteoustiess  of  God.' 

*'  '  It  is  not  meet  to  take  the  children's  bread,'  said 
Jesus  to  the  Syro-Phoenecian  woman,  '  and  cast  it  to 
dogs.'  '  Yes,  Lord,'  she  beautifully  answered,  '  I 
take  my  place  as  a  Gentile  dog.'  Her  spirit  was  not 
up,  as  ours  would  have  been  with  wounded  pride, 
but  she  takes  her  place  contentedly  as  deserving 
nothing,  and  she  begs  a  crumb.  The  Lord  threw 
her  a  whole  loaf  at  once. 

/'  Look  at  the  Roman  centurion.  The  messengers 
came  and  said  he  was  w^orthy,  he  was  a  respectable 
man,  well  connected,  a  man  in  authority.  He  loveth 
our  nation,  and  has  built  us  a  synagogue.  Oh  yes, 
he  was  worthy  surely,  there  could  be  no  doubt  of  it. 
Brother  Thomson  here  gives  Pastor  Thomas  ^1000 
towards  his  new  chapel.  He  may  have  made  the 
money  by  distilling  whiskey,  never  mind,  he  is  worthy, 
he  has  built  us  a  synagogue.  So  the  world  talks,  and 
so  too  often  the  church  thinks.  But  the  Lord  Jesus 
went  with  the  men.  He  meant  to  read  them  a  les- 
son. He  knew  all  about  the  centurion.  Listen,  what 
has  the  centurion  to  say  for  himself  ?  *  I  am  not 
worthy.  I  thought  not  myself  worthy  to  come  to 
Thee.'  He  took  the  place  of  receiving,  through  free 
grace.     He  believed,  and  got  what  he  wanted.     OJ 


Ireland.  89 

course  he  did.  Any  man  who  has  faith  in  God  will 
get  the  blessing  on  the  same  terms.  '  For  by  grace 
are  ye  saved  through  faith,  and  that  not  of  yourselves, 
it  is  the  gift  of  God  ;  not  of  works,  lest  any  man  should 
boast." 

Moody  sat  down,  calling  on  Ira  D.  Sankey  to  sing 
the  now  well-known  hymn, — 

**  There  were  ninety- and-nine  that  safely  lay 
In  the  shelter  of  the  fold, 
But  one  was  out  on  the  hilh  away 
Far  off  from  the  gates  of  gold." 

Stanley  writes  : — ''I  never  heard  anything  to  ap- 
proach Sankey's  singing.  Any  one  who  doubts 
whether  there  may  be  a  service  in  song  should  just 
listen  to  him,  and  it  would  no  longer  surprise  them 
that  souls  are  won  under  the  influence  of  the  melt- 
ing melody.  In  the  evening  it  was  announced  that 
Moody  would  be  at  St.  Enoch's,  the  meeting  to  be- 
gin at  eight.  We  w^ere  told  the  only  chance  of  get- 
ting in  was,  to  go  an  hour  and  a  half  before  time. 
At  6.30  the  doors  were  opened,  and  in  twelve  min- 
utes the  whole  of  the  large  church,  with  its  double 
gallery,  holding  three  thousand  people,  was  filled, 
and  the  doors  were  closed.  It  was  a  wonderful  sight 
to  see  the  people  thronging  in,  and  their  attention 
was  complete,  indeed  it  could  hardly  be  otherwise. 
In  the  middle  of  Moody's  sermon  he  called  on  Sankey 
to  sing,  saying  '  As  well  sing  about  grace  as  preach 
about  it,  it  will  help  the  sermon.'  At  the  close  of 
the  service  any  who  were  anxious  about  their  souls, 
and  desired  conversation,  v/ere  invited  to  come  to 


90  Memories  of  Stanley  Pumphrey. 

another  neighbouring  church.  This  enquirers'  meet- 
ing I  felt  to  be  the  most  instructive  of  all,  and  there 
could  be  no  doubt  that  the  arrow  of  conviction  had 
entered  a  large  proportion  of  those  present."  Thus 
the  reality  of  Moody's  work  was  abundantly  manifest 
long  before  he  had  acquired  the  popularity  he  has 
since  attained. 

After  thoroughly  visiting  the  meetings  of  Friends 
in  Ireland,  Stanley  again  returned  home.  His  fare- 
well sermon  in  Dublin  w^as  in  these  words,  ''All 
things  are  yours.  Things  present  and  things  to 
come,  all  are  yours.  Every  need  is  met  in  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.  Not  that  we  are  always  to  expect  an 
abounding,  or  a  treasure  as  it  were,  to  draw  from 
for  future  w^ants.  The  Christian  is  often  in  the 
condition  of  the  disciples,  sent  forth  without  scrip, 
yet  as  they  had  to  testify  that  they  lacked  nothing, 
so  we  find  in  looking  to  the  Lord,  that  every  want 
is  supplied  as  it  arises,  and  seeing  that  this  is  the 
case,  what  need  we  more  ?  " 


CHAPTER  VII. 

WORCESTER. 

Stanley  Pumphrey  belonged  to  an  industrious  fam- 
ily, and  whether  on  his  journeys  or  at  home  never 
allowed  the  grass  to  grow  under  his  feet.  On  his  re- 
turn from  Ireland  in  1874  he  wrote  an  article  for  the 
Friends'  Quarterly  Examiner  on  the  life  of  George 
Herbert,  the  country  parson,  and  his  godly  counsel 
to  ministers.  Many  of  the  quotations  portray  Stan- 
ley Pumphrey's  own  views,  and  as  such  will  form  a 
valuable  commentary  on  his  own  thoughts  respect- 
ing the  ministry. 

''It  is  an  ill  mason  that  refuses  any  stone,  but  the 
chief  and  top  of  the  pastor's  knowledge  consists  in 
the  Book  of  books,  t-he  storehouse  and  magazine  of 
life  and  comfort,  the  Holy  Scriptures. 

''  The  second  means  is  prayer,  which  if  necessary 
in  temporal  things,  how  much  more  in  things  of  an- 
other world,  where  the  well  is  deep,  and  we  have 
nothing  of  ourselves  to  draw  with. 

''The  third  means  is  a  diligent  comparison  of 
Scripture  with  Scripture.  Suck  every  letter,  and 
find  honey. 

"The  fourth  means  are  commentators  and  the 
fathers,  which  the  pastor  by  no  means  refuseth. 
Yet  he   doth  not  so  study  others  as  to  neglect  the 


92  Memories  of  Stanley  Ftimphrey. 

grace  of  God  in  himself,  and  what  the  Holy  Spirit 
teacheth  him.  But  as  one  country  does  not  bear  all 
things,  that  there  may  be  commerce,  so  neither  hath 
God  opened  out,  or  will  open  out,  all  thoughts  to 
one  man,  that  there  may  be  a  traffic  in  knowledge 
between  the  servants  of  God. 

*'  Lord  Jesus,  teach  Thou  me,  that  I  may  teach. 
Sanctify  all  my  powers,  that  in  their  full  strength  I 
may  deliver  Thy  message  reverently,  readily,  faith- 
fully, and  fruitfully.  Oh,  make  Thy  word  a  swift 
word,  passing  from  the  ear  to  the  heart,  and  from 
the  heart  to"  the  life  and  the  conversation. 

"  George  Herbert  says  that  for  the  understanding 
of  the  Scriptures  we  need  *  first  a  holy  life '  ;  and 
again  he  says,  '  A  holy  life  is  the  best  library.'  When 
introduced  to  the  rectory  of  Bemerton,  near  Salis- 
bury, according  to  an  old  custom  he  was  left  alone 
in  the  church  to  toll  the  bell  ;  but  as  he  was  much 
longer  than  usual,  his  friends  came  to  seek  him,  and 
found  him  prostrate  before  the  altar  in  fervent  prayer, 
for  he  says,  '  Prayers  are  the  church  bells  that  are 
heard  beyond  the  stars.'  He  recommends  the  minis- 
ter to  let  his  words  be  'heart  deep,'  and  'to  have  a 
diligent  and  busy  cast  of  the  eye  on  his  hearers  ; '  and 
inasmuch  as  country  people  are  thick  and  heavy  and 
hard  to  raise,  use  plain  and  simple  language,  inter- 
spersed with  stories  and  sayings  of  others,  with  homely 
illustrations,  for  things  of  ordinary  use  when  washed 
and  cleansed  may  serv^e  as  lights  to  heavenly  truths. 
Our  Saviour  made  plants  and  seeds  to  teach  the  peo- 
ple, not  only  that  by  familiar  things  He  might  make 
the  doctrine  slip  the  more  easily  into  the  hearts  even 


Worcester.  9^ 

of  the  meanest,  but  also  that  labouring  people  re- 
membering in  the  garden  his  mustard  seed  and  lilies, 
and  in  the  field  his  seed  corn  and  tares,  should  not 
be  drowned  altogether  in  their  work  but  lift  up  their 
minds  to  better  things  in  the  midst  of  their  labour." 
And  thus  Stanley  Pumphrey  concludes  that  *'not 
only  ministers  but  Sabbath-school  teachers,  district 
visitors,  and  helpers  in  mission  services,  may  find  in 
George  Herbert  many  a  useful  hint  as  to  Vhq  prepara- 
tion for  their  labours." 

Another  paper  which  Stanley  Pumphrey  after- 
wards prepared  on  a  kindred  subject  was  entitled 
*' Christ,  the  Model  Teacher."  This  also  appeared 
in  the  Friends'  Quarterly  Examiner,  and  a  few  extracts 
from  it  will  show  the  healthy  line  of  vigorous  thought 
which  guided  his  pen. 

"The  remark  made  by  the  Hindu  to  Elkanah 
Beard,  '  How  nicely  Jesus  puts  things,'  illustrates  the 
impression  His  words  produce  on  thoughtful  minds 
whose  perceptions  are  not  yet  dulled  by  familiarity 
with  Christ's  teaching.  Everything  is  eminently  '  well 
put.'  If  we  ask  how  Jesus  succeeded  in  making  his 
teaching  so  plain,  forcible,  and  interesting,  we  shall 
find  that  one  secret  lay  in  the  free  use  of  apt  illustra- 
tion. 'Without  a  parable  spake  He  not  unto  them.' 
The  illustrations  ^QXQ  drawn  from  farming,  mechanics, 
commerce,  social  customs,  domestic  occupations,  the 
sports  of  children,  religious  rites,  history,  birds,  fishes, 
insects,  trees,  flowers,  rain  and  sunshine,  food  and 
clothing,  salt  and  fuel,  dust  and  rust,  all  these  and 
many  more  give  point  to  his  lessons.  Sometimes  an 
important  lesson  is  conveyed  in  the  constant  repeti- 


94  Memories  of  Stanley  Pumphrey. 

tion  of  a  single  word.  In  that  first  great  sermon  on 
the  Mount,  the  word  'Father,'  as  applied  to  God,  is 
brought  in  seventeen  times.  In  that  last  great  dis- 
course in  the  14th,  15th,  and  i6th  of  John,  the  word 
'  Father '  is  applied  to  God  forty-five  times.  But  it 
is  not  only  by  the  repetition  of  words  that  our  Lord 
gave  emphasis,  but  by  the  repetition  of  thought. 
*  Ask,  and  it  shall  be  given  you  ;  seek,  and  ye  shall 
find  ;  knock,  and  it  shall  be  opened  unto  you.  For 
every  one  that  asketh  receiveth,  and  he  that  seeketh 
findeth,  and  to  him  that  knocketh  it  shall  be  opened.' 

"  Our  Lord  often  gave  light  and  shadow  to  His 
teaching  by  the  force  cf  contrast.  He  contrasted  the 
service  of  God  and  mammon,  and  the  two  ways,  the 
two  builders,  the  good  and  the  corrupt  tree,  the  sin- 
gle and  the  evil  eye,  the  treasure  on  earth  and  in 
heaven. 

^^  Forcible  questions  were  often  used  to  arrest  atten- 
tion. '  If  ye  love  them  which  love  you,  what  reward 
have  ye  ? '  '  What  man  is  there  of  you  w4io  if  his  son 
ask  bread,  will  he  give  him  a  stone  ? '  '  Why  behold- 
est  thou  the  mote  that  is  in  thy  brother's  eye,  but 
considerest  not  the  beam  that  is  in  thine  own  eye  ? ' 

*'Not  unfrequently  Jesus  aroused  attention  by 
putting  the  truth  in  the  form  of  paradox.  '  If  the 
light  that  is  in  thee  be  darkness,  hoAv  great  is  that 
darkness.'  Again,  He  gave  precepts  so  condensed 
that  once  heard  they  could  not  be  forgotten.  '  Love 
your  enemies.'     '  Swear  not  at  all.' 

''  The  subject  matter  was  always  iinportant.  Jesus 
Christ  always  had  something  to  say.  He  was  never 
trifling,  never  light. 


Worcester.  95 

"A  sociable  and  approachable  man,  He  made  Him- 
self accessible  to  all  classes,  and  was  ready  to  accept 
the  invitations  of  any.  While  fully  alive  to  the  joys 
of  friendship.  He  could  turn  aside  from  homes  like 
Bethany,  and  be  guest  with  Publicans  or  Pharisees 
whose  company  was  less  congenial. 

*'  He  was  always  ready  to  attend  to  those  who 
needed  help.  We  never  find  him  saying,  '  I  have 
not  time.'  To  spare  Himself  fatigue  or  trouble 
never  entered  His  thought.  He  could  turn  aside 
from  busy  occupation  to  heal  a  servant  or  restore  a 
little  girl.  Crowds  hung  upon  His  lips,  yet  Jesus 
was  equally  ready  to  speak  to  one.  Mary,  Nicode-' 
mus,  the  woman  of  Samaria,  the  lawyer,  the  rich 
young  man,  Simon  the  Pharisee,  Zaccheus,  all  re- 
ceived in  turn  His  teaching  individually.  His  love 
shone  out  in  acts  of  thoughtful  kindness  and  in 
tender  words. 

^'  His  life  was  full  of  untiring  activity  and  energy, 
yet  there  was  no  hurry.  Whence  sprang  this  holy 
calm  ?  Was  it  from  those  hours  of  prayer  ?  *  Rising 
up  a  great  while  before  day,  He  departed  into  a 
solitary  place,  and  there  prayed.'  '  He  went  up  into 
a  mountain  to  pray.'  '  He  withdrew  Himself  into 
the  wilderness  and  prayed.'  '  He  continued  all 
night  in  prayer  to  God.'  Fellow  teachers,  if  we 
wish  to  keep  calm  and  strong  for  work  we  must  be 
much  with  God.  The  more  work,  the  more  need  of 
prayer.  'I  have  so  much  upon  me,' said  Luther, 
*  that  I  cannot  get  on  without  three  hours  of  prayer  a 
day.' 

"  Our  Saviour  was  discriminating.     He  did  not  give 


g6  Memories  of  Stanley  Pumphrey. 

meat  to  babes,  nor  cram  them  with  more  than  they 
could  digest.  There  was  never  any  one  like  Him  for 
rightly  dividing  the  word  of  truth.  The  bruised 
reed  He  did  not  break,  nor  quench  the  dimly-burn- 
ing flax. 

*' Jesus  was  full  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Herein  lies 
the  secret  of  the  teacher's  and  preacher's  power. 
The  disciples  received  power  after  the  Holy  Spirit 
came  upon  them,  and  it  was  when  filled  with  the 
Spirit  that  they  were  enabled  to  speak  with  such 
convincing  clearness  and  authority  that  multitudes 
believed.'' 

While  Stanley  Pumphrey  thus  clearly  exalts  Christ 
as  the  Model  Teacher,  he  by  no  means  sets  Him 
forth  as  only  a  human  teacher.  "  Christ  describes 
Himself  as  the  final  arbiter  of  human  destiny.  He 
gives  commands  with  Divine  authority,  and  makes 
promises  in  His  own  name  that  God  only  could  ful- 
fil. All  this  is  perfectly  harmonious  and  perfectly 
explicable  if  we  only  accept  His  own  statement,  '  He 
that  hath  seen  Me  hath  seen  the  Father.'  " 

In  1874'  Stanley  worked  vigorously  to  assist  the 
Moravians  in  their  great  missionary  enterprise.  He 
had  been  interested  for  years  in  their  self-denying 
efforts  in  Greenland  and  Labrador.  Their  Mission 
Fund  that  year  showed  a  deficiency  of  jC^j\,2<^\,  and 
the  executive  were  looking  forward  to  difficulties  of 
a  serious  nature  in  the  prosecution  of  their  work. 
Then  came  the  loss  of  their  missionary  vessel  in  June 
on  the  Mosquito  coast,  Central  America,  which  great- 
ly added  to  their  perplexities.  An  appeal  was  issued 
asking  Christian  friends  to  come  to  their  aid  that  the 


Worcesfer.  97 

Lord's  work  might  not  suffer  which  He  had  entrusted 
to  them.  One  day  in  the  early  autumn  he  made  his 
way  to  the  office  in  London,  and  knocking,  was 
ushered  into  the  presence  of  the  secretary,  the  Rev. 
H.  E.  Shawe.  They  were  soon  absorbed  in  conver- 
sation and  in  enquiries  respecting  the  Moravian 
Mission  work  generally,  and  the  causes  of  their  pres- 
ent financial  perplexities.  After  discussing  these 
matters  pretty  fully,  and  obtaining  all  the  practical 
information  possible,  Stanley  said,  '*  God  has  put  it 
into  my  heart  to  try  and  help  you  in  your  difficulty, 
and  I  wish  to  obtain  all  needful  information  before 
setting  to  work."  The  secretary  was  much  touched 
by  the  kind  loving  way  in  which  he  spoke  of  his  in- 
terest and  sympathy  in  their  missionary  work,  and 
in  the  brethren  and  sisters  engaged  in  it,  and  an- 
swered, ''  I  assure  you  we  are  very  grateful  for  your 
proffered  assistance.  The  prayerful  sympathy  of  a 
Christian  brother  like  yourself  is  very  precious  to 
us,  even  if  the  effort  you  make  is  not  attended  with 
success  of  a  very  striking  character."  Stanley  quietly 
remarked,  "  It  is  on  my  mind  that  the  Lord  will  give 
me  ;^2,ooo  for  you.  Shall  we  kneel  down  together 
and  ask  Him  ?" 

They  did  so.  Stanley  engaged  in  prayer,  simple 
and  child-like,  and  so  full  of  faith  that  when  they 
rose  from  their  knees  the  secretary's  heart  was 
cheered  with  the  assurance  that  ''according  to  his 
faith,"  Stanley  would  indeed  be  enabled  to  raise  the 
sum  he  had  named. 

He  lost  no  time  in  setting  to  work,  and  worked 
hard  at  it,  preparing  a  circular  stating  the  circum- 
5 


98  Memories  of  Stanley  Pumphrey. 

stances,  and  writing  letters  to  a  large  number  of 
Friends  with  whom  he  was  personally  acquainted, 
and  by  the  end  of  the  financial  year,  March,  1875,  he 
had  been  instrumental  in  bringing  in  the  sum  of 
^1,494  17s.  4d.  towards  the  deficiency  of  the  Mora- 
vians. 

The  next  year  a  further  sum  of  ^^104  8s.  pd.  was 
paid  in  by  him  for  the  same  object.  A  further  sum 
of  about  ;£"5oo  extraordinary  subscriptions  towards 
a  new  ship  for  the  Mosquito  coast  was  also  received 
through  his  influence  and  as  a  direct  result  of  his 
appeal. 

Stanley  Pumphrey  again  made  his  way  to  the 
Moravian  Missionary  office,  and  went  through  the 
accounts  with  the  secretary,  his  face  shining  with  de- 
light as  he  found  that  actually  more  than  the  ^2,- 
000  asked  for  had  graciously  been  sent.  Again  they 
knelt  down,  and  with  deeply  moved  hearts  thanked 
God  for  His  full  answer  to  their  prayer. 

We  have  already  seen  how  in  boyhood  Stanley 
was  influenced  for  good  by*' the  pure  and  gentle 
life  "  of  his  beloved  sister  Helen.  This  sister  had 
now  for  some  years  been  married  to  William  Clark 
Eddington.  The  first  seven  years  of  their  married 
life  were  spent  at  Worcester  ;  and  in  187 1  they  re- 
moved to  Guildford,  mainly  with  a  view  to  her  hus- 
band prosecuting  his  art  as  a  landscape  painter  amid 
the  lovely  scenery  in  Surrey.  Stanley  gave  his 
brother-in-law  a  cordial  welcome  into  the  family  cir- 
cle, encouraging  him  to  devote  himself  to  his  profes- 
sion as  an  artist ;  being  so  fond  of  art  himself,  he 
regularly  frequented  the  picture  galleries  in  London 


Worcester.  '99 

when  opportunity  presented,  and  his  judgment  and 
art  criticism  were  often  helpful  and  cheering  to  one 
who  made  it  his  life-work.  Five  little  children  came 
one  by  one  ;  and  in  1875  the  Eddingtons  removed  to 
Harlech  in  the  vicinity  of  the  mountain  tarns  and 
high  moorlands  of  North  Wales.  The  welfare  of  this 
beloved  sister  and  all  that  pertained  to  her,  lay  very 
near  Stanley's  heart.  '*  I  have  seen  Helen  often 
since  she  married,"  writes  a  friend,  "with  little  frail 
children  clinging  round  her,  to  whom  she  was  every- 
thing." Whatever  she  was  doing,  gardening,  wash- 
ing tea-things,  making  beds,  cooking,  arid  sewing, 
the  children  were  round  her,  the  elder  ones  early 
learning  to  make  themselves  useful.  The  oldest,  a 
frail  girl,  was  soon  called  away,  as  the  loving  mother 
expressed  it, 

**  An  angel  visited  the  fair  earth 
And  bore  our  flower  away." 

At  the  time  to  which  we  have  now  arrived  there  were 
two  boys  and  two  girls  left.  The  mother  meanwhile 
was  attacked  with  hemorrhage,  consumption  set  in, 
and  the  family  returned  to  Worcester.  ''  Oh,  Caro- 
line," exclaimed  Helen  one  day,  as  at  her  sister's  re- 
quest she  lay  down  tired  out,  '*  I  am  going  so  fast, 
and  it  is  so  hard  to  leave  you  all." 

Stanley  felt  the  trial  keenly,  for  his  sister  abounded 
in  that  quiet  holy  life  that  shines  most  brightly  at 
at  home.  ^'' No  cofidemnation  no'tv^''  she  said,  ''''soon  710 
separation."  When  very  ill  and  weak  she  bid  her 
sister,  '^  Go  down  and  set  the  children  to  a  good 
romp,  and  put  all  the  doors  open  that  I  may  hear 


100  Honor ies  of  Stanley  PiimpJirey. 

them,"  for  the  merry  voices  from  below  were  "  moth- 
er's music  "  to  her. 

Stanley  was  far  from  home  when  his  sister  passed 
away  to  be  with  the  Lord,  but  his  heart's  affections 
were  so  bound  up  with  her  that  her  life-story  was  an 
important  factor  in  his,  and  the  four  motherless 
children  at  Worcester  ever  found  in  him  an  intense 
sympathizer. 

There  had  been  gradually  ripening  in  Stanley 
Pumphrey's  mind  a  deeply  settled  conviction  that  the 
Lord  was  calling  him  to  service  in  America,  and  that 
probably  for  years  he  would  be  called  to  labour  among 
the  Christian  churches  in  that  land.  The  time  w^as 
now  approaching  when  after  the  manner  of  Friends, 
this  important  prospect  of  service  should  be  thrown 
before  the  meetings  with  which  he  was  connected, 
for  the  serious  consideration  of  his  fellow-members. 
But  running  alongside  this  prospect  of  future  Gos- 
pel work,  Stanley  believed  it  well  for  him  to  marry 
again.  The  friend  whom  he  had  chosen  was  one 
who  had  already  been  diligently  at  work  in  the  vil- 
lages in  her  owm  district,  Sarah,  the  daughter  of  Jon- 
athan and  Elizabeth  Grubb  of  Sudbury.  He  justly 
felt  in  offering  his  hand  to  one  he  so  dearly  loved, 
with  the  immediate  prospect,  on  his  part,  of  some 
years  absence  from  home,  that  he  was  asking  her  to 
make  sacrifices  of  her  own  personal  comfort  not  to 
be  easily  estimated.  He  therefore  hesitated  in  claim- 
ing from  her  more  than  she  might  feel  called  upon 
to  surrender.  Jonathan  Grubb  was  well  known 
throughout  the  British  Isles  as  an  earnest  Gospel 
minister  and   zealous   temperance  advocate,  and   it 


Worcester.  loi 

was  no  light  matter  to  ask  his  daughter  to  engage 
herself  to  one  who  was  proposing  forthwith  to  absent 
himself  for  years  on  foreign  service. 

In  the  autumn  of  1874,  in  writing  to  his  sister 
Lucy,  Stanley  Pumphrey  thus  enters  into  the  con- 
sideration of  this  proposed  union  : — "  My  visit  to 
Sudbury  was  very  pleasant  and  one  long  to  be  re- 
membered. I  had  considerable  opportunity  of  being 
with  Sarah,  and  was  especially  thankful  for  an  hour  of 
prayer  we  had  together.  We  were  very  often  with  one 
another,  and  there  was  none  of  the  reserve  that  might 
have  been  feared  from  our  slight  personal  intercourse. 
I  told  her  that  the  claims  of  the  work  of  the  ministry 
I  thankfully  accept  as  paramount  to  all  others,  and 
I  have  told  the  Lord  that  I  am  quite  willing  to  give 
up  the  thought  of  ever  having  her,  if  He  sees  it 
would  hinder  the  service  that  He  is  pointing  to  either 
of  us.  My  love  for  her  continues  strong  and  deep. 
This  has  been  a  safeguard  to  me  as  I  have  gone 
about,  and  I  have  no  doubt  it  will  be  a  help  to  me  in 
America  to  have  my  affections  anchored.  I  can  see 
how  great  a  help  she  might  be  made  to  me,  and  how 
the  Lord  might  bless  us  in  united  work.  I  see,  too, 
what  a  rest  it  may  be  to  both  of  us  to  be  plighted 
to  one  another  in  mutual  love.  Can  we  trust  the 
Lord  to  give  us  patience  through  what  may  very 
possibly  be  the  years  of  hope  deferred  ?  and  can  we 
trust  Him  to  provide  all  that  will  be  needful  for  our 
outward  wants,  if  He  at  last  unites  us  ?  May  the 
Lord  guide  us,  and  may  His  will  be  done." 

A  few  months  later  he  again  writes  from  Colches- 
ter to  his  sister  on  the  same   subject : — "  Sarali's  de- 


102  Memories  of  Stanley  Pumphrey , 

cision  is  made,  and  we  are  now  engaged  to  one  an- 
other. We  have  felt  it  a  solemn  thing  to  enter  into 
a  covenant  that  must  have  such  an  important  bearing 
on  our  future  lives  and  on  our  service  for  our  Lord. 
I  believe  we  are  both  well  satisfied  that  the  thing  has 
proceeded  from  the  Lord." 

One  of  those  problems  that  now  and  again  occur 
in  life  then  arose.  Several  of  his  friends  advised 
him  to  marry  before  sailing  to  America,  and  to  take 
his  wife  with  him.  In  corresponding  with  his  brother 
in  the  spring  of  1875,  he  enunciates  this  difficulty. 
"  Our  engagement  is  now  generally  talked  off.  I  am 
a  little  disquieted  at  the  number  of  recommendations 
I  get  to  marry  at  once,  and  to  take  Sarah  with  me 
to  America.  *  When  my  mind  is  made  up  to  a  course 
of  action  I  do  not  easily  change,  and  dislike  having 
to  reconsider  it,  but  I  am  not  so  obstinate  as  to  be  un- 
willing to  think  of  reasons  that  may  be  urged  for  an 
opposite  course. 

"  Sarah's  fellowship  might  be  a  great  help  in  the 
work.  Prayer  and  conference  with  her  would  be 
strengthening.  It  would  be  a  help  too,  considering 
the  state  of  my  health,  to  have  some  one  to  look 
after  me,  and  clearly  no  one  could  do  this  like  a 
wife,  or  give  the  same  helpful  care  in  case  of  illness. 
There  is  also  the  unsettling  influence  of  protracted 
engagement  and  its  possible  effect  upon  us  both. 

*'0n  the  other  hand  it  seems  to  me  there  are  ob- 
jections so  obvious  that  I  wonder  my  advisers  can 
so  completely  ignore  them.  I  do  not  fear  the  un- 
settling effect  of  long  engagement  for  myself  ;  I 
have  looked   forward  to  it  too  long.      As  regards 


Worcester.  103 

health,  I  think  there  is  less  probability  of  Sarah 
standing  the  fatigue  than  of  my  doing  it,  and  that 
it  is  more  likely  she  would  be  an  anxiety  to  me 
in  our  journeyings  than  I  to  her.  The  important 
thing  is  to  know  the  mind  of  God,  and  with  regard 
to  this,  I  do  pray  that  we  may  come  to  a  clear  and 
united  judgment." 

It  was  finally  concluded  that  Stanley  Pumphrey 
should  start  for  America  alone,  and  on  the  8th  April, 
1875,  he  laid  his  prospect  of  service  before  the  Worces- 
tershire and.  Shropshire  Monthly  Meeting  of  Friends 
at  Worcester.  He  was  quite  unwell  at  the  time,  and 
went  to  and  from  the  meeting  in  a  closed  carriage. 
At  the  commencement  of  the  meeting  he  offered  a 
most  solemn  prayer  imploring  divine  g.uidance,  and 
was  followed  by  an  address  from  Edward  Pease,  of 
Bewdley,  on  the  words  ''The  eyes  of  all  wait  upon 
thee."  Stanley  first  returned  the  minute  granted  him 
for  religious  service  in  the  eastern  counties  and  in 
Ireland,  and  gave  a  brief  summary  of  the  way  the 
Lord  had  led  him.  He  then  again  rose  and  said  : — • 
*'For  eight  years  I  have  believed  that  the  Lord  was 
preparing  my  heart  to  go  to  America,  and  as  a  con- 
sequence five  years  ago  I  concluded  to  relinquish 
business.  I  have  felt  that  my  work  in  Ireland  has 
been  calculated,  in  many  ways,  to  assist  in  preparing 
me  for  this  more  extended  field  of  labour.  I  do  not 
know  how  long  the  engagement  may  take  me,  it  may 
probably  be  for  years.  Nothing  is  very  definitely  be- 
fore my  mind  respecting  the  course  it  may  assume, 
but  probably  it  will  be  to  work  in  the  compass  of 
Baltimore  and  North  Carolina  Yearly  Meetings  dur- 


I04  Memories  of  Statiley  PiunpJirey. 

ing  next  winter.  I  greatly  feel  the  responsibility  of 
the  undertaking  and  my  own  unfitness  for  the  work, 
but  I  believe  that  bodily,  mental  and  spiritual  strength 
is  always  given  for  the  work  God  calls  us  to  do  for 
Him.  He  who  commissions  His  servants  has  prom- 
ised to  give  them  His  needed  help.  I  have  much 
felt  the  severance  involved  in  leaving  the  meeting  at 
Worcester  and  so  many  of  my  dear  friends,  but  the 
Lord  has  given  me  many  indications  that  He  Himself 
is  calling  me  to  the  work,  and  several  brethren  and 
sisters  from  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic  have  spoken 
to  me,  expressing  their  conviction  that  the  Lord  would 
call  me  to  visit  their  land.  I  believe  the  time  has 
come  for  me  to  lay  the  matter  before  you  for  your 
prayerful  consideration,  and  whatever  your  conclu- 
sion is,  may  ;fhe  will  of  the  Lord  be  done." 

Stanley  Pumphrey  then  sat  down,  and  as  he 
thought  of  all  that  the  separation  involved,  burst 
into  tears.  Henry  Whiting  was  the  first  to  break 
the  solemn  silence  that  followed.  He  expressed  his 
sympathy,  but  felt  much  discouraged  at  the  thought 
of  Worcester  Meeting,  and  of  all  the  work  that  was 
needed  in  the  immediate  neighbourhood,  and  how 
few  there  were  to  do  it.  Lucy  Westcombe  then  rose, 
and  said  that  she  had  long  known  of  her  dear  nephew's 
concern  for  America,  and  the  more  she  had  thought 
about  it,  the  more  clearly  she  believed  that  it  was  the 
right  thing.  V/illiam  Spriggs,  Martha  A.  Binyon 
and  Sarah  Lindsay  expressed  their  sympathy  and 
unity,  and  their  sorrow  at  losing  Stanley's  presence 
from  among  them  so  soon  again,  yet  hoping  that  the 
meeting  would  liberate  him  for  the  service.     Many 


Worcester.  105 

others  spoke  to  the  same  purport,  and  Edward  Pease 
concluded  with  prayer  that  blessing  and  preservation 
might  attend  him  throughout  his  travels.  A  certifi- 
cate was  prepared,  which  was  afterwards  authentica- 
ted by  the  Quarterly  Meeting,  and  is  as  follows  : — 

"  To  the  Monthly,  Quarterly  and  Yearly  Meetings 
of  Friends  in  America,  to  whom  this  may 
come." 

"  Dear  Friends, — Our  dear  friend  Stanley  Pum- 
phrey,  a  minister  in  unity  and  good  esteem  amongst 
us,  has  laid  before  us  a  prospect  of  religious  service, 
which  has  long  been  before  him,  to  visit  in  Gospel 
love  the  meetings  within  your  limits,  and  to  attend 
to  such  other  service  as  may  be  required  of  him  in 
the  course  of  the  engagement.  The  concern  of  our 
beloved  friend  has  received  our  serious  consideration, 
and  much  unity  and  sympathy  having  been  expressed 
therewith,  we  think  it  right  to  liberate  him  for  the 
service,  for  which  we  believe  the  Lord  has  been  qual- 
ifying and  preparing  him.  We  commend  him  to 
your  care,  desiring  that  his  labours  may  be  blest  to 
your  comfort  and  edification,  and  that  he  may  expe- 
rience in  all  his  movements  divine  guidance  and  pro- 
tection, and  return  with  peace  when  he  feels  that  he 
has  fulfilled  his  work. 

''  Signed  by  direction  and  on  behalf  of  Worcester- 
shire and  Shropshire  Monthly  Meeting,  women 
Friends  being  present,  held  at  Worcester  by  adjourn- 
ment the  15  th  day  of  4th  month,  1875. 

"Thomas  Westcombe,  Clerk." 
S* 


I06  Memories  of  Stanley  Pumphrey. 

One  of  the  privileges  Stanley  Pumphrey  had  en- 
joyed for  several  years  was  attending  the  yearly 
Meetings  in  London.  During  the  Meetings  of  1874, 
Deborah  Thomas  from  America  paid  a  visit  to  the 
Men's  Meeting  during  its  sittings,  and  in  entire  ig- 
norance of  what  was  passing  in  Stanley's  heart  ut- 
tered words  that  might  appear  almost  prophetic.  She 
said,  ^'  If  it  had  not  been  for  some  of  your  members 
from  England  visiting  America,  I  do  not  think  I 
should  ever  have  come  to  visit  you.  But  now  there 
are  but  few  of  you  that  are  visiting  America.  Is  it 
not  laid  upon  som-e  of  you  young  men  to  go  ?  Does 
not  the  great  ocean  roll  between  you  and  your 
field  of  offering  ?  Do  not  be  long  about  it,  for  I  be- 
lieve the  Lord  will  give  time  to  do  it  in,  and  not  much 
more.'' 

At  the  London  Yearly  Meeting  of  1875,  Stanley 
Pumphrey's  certificate  for  America  was  duly  endorsed 
by  the  Meeting  on  Ministry  and  Oversight,  and  on 
the  28th  May  he  paid  a  farewell  visit  to  the  Women's 
Yearly  Meeting,  addressing  them  from  the  words  of 
Christ,  "  Fear  not,  I  am  he  that  liveth  and  was  dead, 
and  behold,  I  am  alive  for  evermore."  "The  Lord 
speaks  of  Himself  as  the  '  I  am.'  Time  to  Him  is 
not  past  or  future  as  with  us,  but  present.  To  His 
disciples  he  says,  '  Lo,  /  a7?i  with  you  always  even 
unto  the  end  of  the  world.'  And  to  Moses  the  words 
were  addressed,  ' I a?n  that  I  am.'  Thus  shalt  thou 
say  unto  the  children  of  Israel,  '/  a?n  hath  sent  me 
unto  you.'  We  rejoice  in  the  work  He  has  done  for 
us,  that  He  died  for  our  sins,  but  there  is  strength 
for  us  also  in  the  thought  that  He  liveth.     He  is  with 


Worcester,  107 

us  always,  so  we  need  fear  nothing.     We  have  no 
right  to  fear.     Look  off  unto  Jesus. 

''  Perliaps  some  of  us  are  inclined  to  respond,  *  Yes, 
but  I  have  failed  so  often.'  It  is  Satan  that  would 
thus  discourage  us.  Look  off  unto  Jesus.  He  is  able 
to  do  for  us  exceeding  abundantly  above  all  that  we 
can  ask  or  think.  I  wish  that  we  might  all  realize 
the  prayer  of  the  apostle,  *  For  this  cause  I  bow  my 
knees  unto  the  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  of 
whom  the  whole  family  in  heaven  and  earth  is  named, 
that  He  would  grant  you,  according  to  the  riches  of 
His  glory,  to  be  strengthened  wth  might  by  his 
Spirit  in  the  inner  man  ;  that  Christ  may  dwell  in 
your  hearts  by  faith ;  that  ye,  being  rooted  and 
grounded  in  love,  may  be  able  to  comprehend  with 
all  saints,  what  is  the  breadth,  and  length,  and 
depth,  and  height ;  and  to  know  the  love  of  Christ, 
which  passeth  knowledge,  that  ye  might  be  filled  with 
all  the  fulness  of  God.'  Let  us  have  faith  in  these 
things  for  ourselves.  Excuse  not  yourselves  from 
the  blessing,  saying,  '  I  am  unworthy.'  Of  ourselves 
we  are  unworthy.  It  is  for  no  merit  of  ours  that  we 
are  blest.  It  is  all  for  His  sake  and  in  His  name. 
Many  of  you  desire  these  things,  not  for  yourselves 
alone,  but  for  others.  Go  on  praying.  Your  influ- 
ence is  great,  you  do  not  realize  how  great.  You  do 
not  know  the  result  of  a  loving  word,  if  you  would 
but  speak  to  your  brothers  and  your  cousins  about 
these  things.  A  few  words  fitly  spoken  sometimes 
do  far  more  than  the  long  sermon.  It  is  the  weak 
things  of  this  world  that  God  hath  chosen  to  con- 
found the  things  that  are  mighty. 


io8  Meinories  of  Stanley  Pumphrey. 

"  I  would  plead  with  you  who  are  sisters  to  help 
your  brothers  in  every  way  you  can.  You  do  not 
know  all  the  dangers  and  temptations  that  surround 
them.  You  cannot  know  how  difficult  it  is  for  them 
to  take  a  firm  stand  as  Christians.  You  know  not 
how  hard  it  often  is  for  the  business  man  to  be  a 
thoroughly  consistent  Christian  in  his  business.  But 
I  know  what  a  business  man  has  to  cope  with.  There- 
fore help  your  brothers.  Pray  for  them  and  with 
them,  that  they  may  know  the  fulfilment  of  the 
promise,  '  The  Lord  shall  preserve  thy  going  out  and 
thy  coming  in  froqa  this  time  forth  for  evermore.' 

"  Permit  me  to  say  a  few  words  respecting  your 
pleasures.  Recreation  has  its  right  place.  Nothing 
in  the  New  Testament  is  definitely  stated  as  to  which 
pleasures  are  to  be  avoided,  although  there  must 
have  been  those  of  which  the  apostles  could  not  ap- 
prove. But  one  great  principle  on  all  such  matters 
is  laid  down.  *■  Whether  ye  eat  or  drink,  or  whatso- 
ever ye  do,  do  all  to  the  glory  of  God.'  This  is 
enough.  Can  you  give  God  thanks  in  them  ?  This 
should  be  our  rule  of  action  in  all  our  engagements. 

"  Again,  respecting  your  reading,  if  you  feel  that 
God  would  not  have  you  read  a  book,  then  leave  it 
alone.  This  is  a  simple  rule,  and  I  need  not  say 
much  more.  I  do  not  look  upon  books  as  dead, 
for  they  are  the  living  thoughts  of  men.  Some 
may  think  these  words  hard,  but  if  we  would  be 
Christ's  disciples,  we  must  take  up  our  cross  and 
deny  ourselves. 

"We  are  utterly  mistaken  about  our  cross  if  we 
think 


Worcester.  109 

•  Far  heavier  its  weight  must  surely  be, 
Than  those  of  others  which  I  daily  see  ; 
Oh  !  if  I  might  another  burden  choose 
Methinks  1  would  not  fear  my  crown  to  lose.' 

"To  choose  our  own  path  or  cross  must  always 
prove  a  failure.     Let  God  choose  for  us, — 

'  And  then  with  lightened  eyes  and  willing  feet. 
Again  I'll  turn  my  earthly  cross  to  meet ; 
And  there,  in  the  prepared  appointed  way, 
Listening  to  hear  and  ready  to  obey, 
A  cross  I  quickly  find  of  plainest  form, 
With  only  words  of  love  inscribed  thereon  ; 
And  so  henceforth  my  own  desire  shall  be 
That  He  who  knows  me  best  may  choose  for  me.' 

*'  I  can  truly  say,  with  Rutherford,  that  the  Cross 
of  Christ  is  the  lightest  burden  that  I  ever  have  to 
bear.  It  is  such  a  burden  as  sails  are  to  a  ship, 
or  wings  to  a  bird,  to  waft  the  soul  onward  to 
heaven. 

''Are  there  some  here  who  are  not  yet  decided 
for  Christ  ?  Oh,  come  at  once  to  Him.  It  may 
be  long  ere  I  have  the  privilege  of  meeting  you 
again.  Remember  the  cause  for  which  I  cross  the 
Atlantic.  The  church  at  home  must  feel  its  re- 
sponsibility in  my  going.  The  church  at  home  has 
a  share  in  the  work,  and  will,  I  trust,  pray  for  the 
errand  and  for  the  messenger.  I  shall  often  re- 
member you  when  far  distant,  and  I  ask  you  to 
remember  me  in  your  prayers." 

Many  were  in  tears  as  they  listened  to  this  part- 
ing address.  The  large  meeting  was  baptized  in 
prayer,  and  one  offering  after  another  ascended  that 


no  Memories  of  Stanley  Pumphrey. 

Stanley  Pumphrey  might   be  surrounded  with   the 
Lord's  blessing,  and  kept  from  all  evil. 

"These  partings  make  us  sad,"  Stanley  after- 
wards wrote  to  one  of  his  relatives,  "  but  I  accept 
my  mission  thankfully,  as  I  doubt  not  you  also  can 
for  me.  When  we  really  give  up  anything  for  the 
Lord's  sake,  I  believe  He  always  gives  us  a  full  re- 
turn, and  I  am  not  afraid  of  being  unhappy,  or  that 
you  will  be.  There  will  be  trials  and  sorrows  no 
doubt,  but  His  grace  does  much  more  abound. 
The  Lord  reigns.  I  hope  to  be  of  good  courage, 
my  heart  is  fixed,  trusting  in  the  Lord." 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


BALTIMORE. 


Stanley  Pumphrey  sailed  from  Queenstown  in  com- 
pany with  Allen  Jay  in  the  Illinois  on  the  25th  Sep- 
tember, 1875,  and  embarked  upon  the  great  work  of 
his  life.  The  varied  experiences  he  had  passed 
through  enabled  him  to  sympathise  with  men  of 
business,  with  family  cares  and  domestic  sorrows, 
and  with  the  needs  of  the  churches.  His  own  heart 
was  resting  on  Christ,  and  he  went  forth  determined 
to  preach  Jesus  Christ  and  Him  crucified. 

*'  Sailing  up  the  Delaware,"  Stanley  writes,  ,*'  my 
dear  brother  Allen  Jay  sat  by  me  on  the  deck.  We 
said  but  little  to  one  another,  for  the  hearts  of  both 
of  us  were  full.  Allen  Jay  was  returning  home  from 
a  service  in  which  the  Lord  had  greatly  blessed  him  ; 
I  was  entering  on  one,  the  responsibility  of  which  I 
felt  exceedingl)^,  but  in  which  I  was  trusting  for  the 
■  help  and  blessing  of  God.  My  thoughts  went  back 
two  hundred  years,  as  I  pictured  William  Penn  sail- 
ing up  that  same  river,  with  a  band  of  men  and 
women  driven  from  their  own  land  by  persecution, 
resolved  to  try,  on  this  virgin  soul,  *  the  holy  experi- 
ment '  of  founding  a  State,  the  corner-stone  of  whose 
polity  should  be  liberty  of  conscience,  and  in  which 
the  endeavour  should  be  made  to  carry  out  the  divine 


1 1 2  Memories  of  Stanley  Puinphrey, 

precepts  of  the  Saviour  in  His  Sermon  on  the  Mount, 
of  peace  and  good-will  towards  all  men.  William 
Penn'had  large  hopes  for  the  prosperity  of  the  State 
he  founded,  but  how  greatly  beyond  his  utmost  ex- 
pectation have  his  hopes  been  exceeded.  The  im- 
press of  his  mind  remains  on  the  political  institutions 
of  America,  and  is  seen  also  in  the  very  form  of  her 
cities,  which  have  so  largely  been  copied  from  his 
own  plan  of  Philadelphia.  A  leading  American 
author  has  remarked  that  while  in  the  early  history 
of  their  country,  the  influence  of  the  Puritans  held 
the  first  rank,  the  influence  of  the  Friends  is  second. 
Bancroft,  in  his  very  interesting  chapter  on  '  The 
People  called  Quakers  in  the  United  States,'  has  en- 
deavoured to  do  justice  to  that  influence.  Some  of 
us  may  have  been  ready  to  charge  him  with  exag- 
geration in  his  statement,  that  at  the  close  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  Pennsylvania,  West  New  Jersey, 
Delaware,  Rhode  Island,  and  to  some  extent.  North 
Carolina,  were  Quaker  States  ;  yet  the  statement  is 
borne  out  by  Samuel  Bownas,  who,  writing  in  1728, 
makes  an  almost  identical  remark,  at  least  as  regards 
Pennsylvania,  New  Jersey,  and  Rhode  Island. 

**  It  must,  however,  be  remarked,  that  the  whole 
population  then  was  very  small ;  some  sixteen  months 
sufficed  him  to  visit  all  the  Friends'  Meetings  in  those 
States  with  very^  slight  exception,  most  of  them  re- 
peatedly, and  several  of  them  many  times.  The  fact 
that  in  the  century  and  a  half  that  has  elapsed  since 
the  visit  of  Samuel  Bownas,  we  have  relatively  so 
completely  lost  ground  in  those  States,  is  a  humiliat- 
ing one,  and  one  that  may  well  call  for  the  thought- 


Baltimore.  113 

ful  consideration  of  some  historian,  since  the  answer 
could  scarcely  fail  to  be  fraught  with  instruction.  In 
the  States  where  Friends  are  most  numerous,  they 
are  but  an  insignificant  fraction  of  the  population, 
even  in  Indiana  scarcely  numbering  more  than  one 
in  eighty. 

''  With  regard  to  the  numerical  strength  of  the 
different  Yearly  Meetings  on  the  American  continent, 
Indiana  stands  first,  with  18,000  members  (in  round 
numbers)  ;  Western  second,  with  12,000  ;  Iowa  third, 
with  9000  ;  Philadelphia  and  North  Carolina  have 
5000  each  ;  New  England,  Kansas,  Ohio,  and  New 
York,  4000,  more  or  less  ;  Canada  has  1600,  and  Bal- 
timore about  600  only;  giving  a  total  membership 
of  about  67,000. 

"  They  may  be  divided  into  three  main  divisions  ; 
the  South,  including  North  Carolina,  Tennessee,  and 
Arkansas,  with  about  5000  members  ;  the  East,  in- 
cluding the  Yearly  Meetings  east  of  the  Alleghanies, 
Baltimore,  Philadelphia,  New  York,  Canada,  and 
New  England,  with  about  15,000  members  ;  and  the 
great  West,  comprising  Ohio,  Indiana,  Western, 
Iowa  and  Kansas  Yearly  Meetings,  with  about  47,000 
members.  The  Wilbur  Friends,  as  they  are  called 
for  distinction,  are  chiefly  to  be  found  in  Eastern 
Ohio,  though  there  is  one  good-sized  Quarterly  meet- 
ing in  Ohio,  and  a  small  remnant  of  the  800  who 
separated  in  New  England,  numbering  altogether 
about  4000.  The  recent  separatists  in  Western,  Iowa, 
and  Kansas  Yearly  Meetings  are  about  1000.  The 
followers  of  Elias  Hicks  claim  28,000  members,  of 
whom  one  half  belong  to  Philadelphia,  where  they 


114  Memories  of  Stanley  Piimphrey. 

are  a  large  and  influential  body,  half  the  remainder 
belong  to  Baltimore  and  New  York,  and  the  rest  to 
their  four  very  small  Yearly  meetings,  which  include 
western  New  York  and  Canada,  Ohio,  Indiana,  and 
Illinois.  The  whole  number  of  persons  therefore, 
who  claim  to  be  Friends  in  America  is  just  about 
100,000. 

"With  regard  to  the  geographical  distribution  of 
Friends  in  the  United  States,  we  find  on  a  map  that 
large  sections  of  the  country  are  a  complete  blank. 
Taking  that  great  section  extending  700  miles  north- 
w^ard  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  we  should  not  find  a 
single  established  meeting.  In  the  Virginias  there 
are  hardly  any,  in  Kentucky  none  ;  in  the  populous 
manufacturing  State  of  Connecticut  and  in  Vermont 
scarcely  any  ;  in  the  rapidly-rising  State  of  Michigan, 
only  one  Quarterly  meeting  ;  in  the  great  agricultu- 
ral State  of  Illinois,  there  are  only  two  Quarterly 
meetings,  both  of  them  on  the  border  of  Indiana  ;  in 
Missouri,  a  very  few  meetings  in  the  south-west  corner; 
in  Wisconsin  and  Minnesota,  a  fcAV  meetings  ;  and,  as 
regards  the  whole  of  the  vast  region  west  of  Kansas, 
the  Society  of  Friends  is  represented  by  one  or  two 
meetings  in  Colorado  and  Oregon,  and  a  very  few  in 
California.  Even  in  those  States  where  Friends  are 
most  numerous,  they  are  often  confined  to  limited 
localities.  Thus  in  Pennsylvania  and  New  Jersey 
there  are  few  outside  a  radius  of  forty  miles  from 
Philadelphia  ;  in  New  England  they  occupy  a  strip 
reaching  fifty  miles  inland  from  the  coast ;  and  even 
in  Indiana,  out  of  its  ninety  counties,  there  are  but 
thirty  in  which  there  are  meetings  of  Friends. 


Baltimore.  1 1 5 

"  Friends  in  America  are  almost  entirely  an  agri- 
cultural people.  Speaking  generally,  nine-tenths 
of  English  Friends  are  engaged  in  commercial  pur- 
suits, in  America  about  the  same  proportion  are 
farmers.  The  number  of  flourishing  meetings  in 
the  cities  is  small.  There  are  about  2000  Friends, 
independently  of  the  Hicksites,  in  Philadelphia ; 
about  1000  in  Richmond,  Indiana  ;  500  in  New  York 
and  Brooklyn  ;  300  in  Baltimore  ;  200  each  in  In- 
dianapolis, Chicago,  Cincinnati,  New  Bedford,  and 
Lynn  ;  100  each  in  Providence  and  Lawrence.  The 
principal  Quaker  centres  are  in  the  country  districts. 
Connected  with  this  view  of  the  Society  of  Friends 
in  America,  is  the  fact  that  outside  a  very  few  centres 
there  is  not  much  wealth  among  them.  There  is 
wealth  in  Philadelphia,  but  owing  to  the  unhappily 
isolated  position  of  that  Yearly  Meeting,  the  wealth 
is  only  available  to  a  limited  extent  for  the  general 
interests  of  the  Society.  The  financial  responsi- 
bilities of  New  York,  New  England,  and  Baltimore 
Yearly  Meetings  rest  mainly  on  the  shoulders  of  a 
few,  and  west  of  the  AUeghanies  wealthy  Friends  are 
to  be  counted  by  units. 

"  Closely  connected  with  this  is  the  state  of  educa- 
tion. A  large  proportion  of  the  Friends  in  the  West 
send  their  children  to  the  country  day  schools,  which 
are  often  only  open  in  the  winter  months  because 
the  labour  of  the  children  is  needed  at  home  dur- 
ing the  summer.  There  are,  however,  many  who 
exert  themselves  commendably  to  secure  the  higher 
education  which  academies  like  Spiceland  and  Wil- 
mington, or  colleges  like  Earlham  and  Penn  supply, 


Ii6  Memories  of  Stanley  PiimpJirey. 

yet  with  a  great  proportion  of  the  members,  the 
education  does  not  go  beyond  that  which  is  furnished 
in  the  day  schools.  With  regard  to  mental  culture 
in  mature  life,  there  appears  to  be  but  little  reading 
beyond  the  newspapers  and  periodicals.  The  book- 
shelves (where  they  have  any)  are  very  scantily  fur- 
nished, and  anything  worth  the  name  of  a  library  is 
rarely  seen." 

The  first  Yearly  meeting  that  Stanley  Pumphrey 
attended  was  Baltimore.  ''  This  is  the  smallest  of 
all  the  Yearly  meetings,  yet  extending  over  a  wide 
area  from  the  heart  of  Pennsylvania  to  the  south- 
east corner  of  Virginia,  a  distance  of  about  500 
miles.  Of  its  twelve  particular  meetings  or  congre- 
gations, Baltimore  is  the  only  considerable  one,  half 
the  members  of  the  Yearly  meeting  residing  in  this 
city.  With  one  or  two  exceptions,  the  other  meet- 
ings are  extremely  small.  Yet  the  Friends  of  this 
Yearly  meeting  have  done  good  service,  and  Francis 
T.  King  has  been  like  a  father  to  North  Carolina 
Yearly  meeting,  and  has,  in  his  zeal  to  help  them, 
made  thirty  journeys  to  the  South  since  the  war. 

"  Why  has  Baltimore  become  so  much  reduced  ? 
The  answer  to  this  question  takes  us  back  to  the  sad- 
dest chapter  in  Quaker  annals,  the  Hicksite  separa- 
tion of  1828,  which  tore  Baltimore  Yearly  meeting 
to  pieces,  and  rent  from  our  communion  more  than 
half  the  members  in  Philadelphia  and  New  York. 
The  Hicksites  retain  so  many  of  the  characteristics 
of  our  Society  that  they  are  often  very  much  con- 
founded with  us  in  the  popular  mind.  Indeed  I  have 
heard  Friends  from  England  say,  that  after  going  to 


Baltimore.  117 

their  meetings,  they  could  see  but  little  difference.  I 
wish  I  could  agree  with  them.  I  desire  to  speak 
with  fairness  and  kindness,  for  they  have  been  kind 
and  courteous  to  me.  They  have  greeted  me  with 
warmth  and  have  thanked  me  for  my  visits  ;  they 
have  even  done  what  1  had  no  right  to  expect  from 
them,  they  have  made  appointments  for  me  and  free- 
ly lent  me  their  meeting-houses.  I  gladly  acknowl- 
edge this,  but  if  I  am  asked,  '  Is  there  any  radical 
doctrinal  difference  between  us  ?'  I  am  bound  to  say 
there  is.  I  attended  one  of  their  meetings,  preach- 
ing just  as  I  should  elsewhere,  what  I  believe  to  be 
the  truth.  My  address  was  largely  based  on  the  53rd 
chapter  of  Isaiah,  as  I  spoke  of  Him,  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  on  whom  were  laid  the  iniquities  of  us  all, 
who  was  wounded  for  our  transgressions,  and  bruised 
for  our  iniquities.  When  I  finished,  the  Friend  who 
sat  at  the  head  of  the  meeting,  and  a  leading  minis- 
ter of  their  Yearly  meeting,  rose  and  said,  that  he 
could  accept  what  the  English  Friend  had  said,  pro- 
vided it  were  understood  in  a  strictly  spiritual  sense. 
It  was  true  that  God  so  loved  the  world  that  He  gave 
His  only  begotten  Son,  that  is,  He  sent  Christ  a  light 
into  the  hearts  of  all,  and  by  obedience  to  its  mani- 
festations, the  evil  was  brought  into  subjection,  the 
good  raised  into  dominion,  and  thus  we  were  brought 
into  a  condition  of  acceptance  with  God." 

This  schism  in  Baltimore,  therefore,  largely  ac- 
counts for  the  smallness  of  that  Yearly  meeting.  But 
the  600  members  that  are  left  represent  a  large  amount 
of  earnest  good  work.  "  Baltimore  has  sometimes 
been  spoken  of  as  the  parent  Yearly  meeting  of  the 


Ii8  Memories  of  Stanley  Pumphrey. 

West.  Technically  this  is  correct,  since  Ohio  Yearly 
meeting  was  set  off  from  Baltimore.  The  tide  of 
emigration  set  westward  across  the  AUeghanies  about 
the  beginning  of  this  century,  but  it  was  not  till  1813 
that  Ohio  Yearly  meeting  was  established.  Indiana 
followed  in  182 1,  Western  Yearly  meeting  in  1858, 
Iowa  in  1864,  and  Kansas  in  1873.  But  the  real  par- 
ent Yearly  meeting  is  North  Carolina.  I  believe 
that  fully  half  the  Friends  in  the  West  are  of  Caro- 
lina descent,  and  many  of  the  most  prominent  men, 
like  Charles  F.  Coffin,  Dr.  Dougan  Clark,  and  Dr. 
William  Nicholson,  are  natives  of  Carolina.  When 
the  pioneer  settlers  established  themselves  in  the 
West,  the  whole  of  the  broad  district,  extending  500 
miles  from  the  AUeghanies  to  the  prairies  of  Illi- 
nois, was  unbroken  forest.  The  toil  of  clearing  the 
forest  and  making  farms  was  severe,  and  the  circum- 
stances attending  the  settlers  must  be  remembered 
in  forming  an  estimate  of  the  population  in  the  West. 
That  such  civilization  should  now  be  found  where  in 
the  memory  of  the  living  there  was  nothing  but  a 
savage  wilderness,  must  be  regarded  as  a  marvel  of 
human  enterprise  and  industry." 

Francis  T.  King  is  clerk  of  Baltimore  Yearly 
Meeting,  and  Julia  Valentine  clerk  of  the  Women's 
Meeting.  The  members  are  very  united.  Stanley 
writes  : — 

"  On  First-day  I  rose  not  feeling  very  well  in  body 
and  decidedly  low  in  my  mind,  in  fact  I  had  what 
Spurgeon  calls  a  '  minister's  fainting  fit,'  but  I  have 
found  as  he  says  he  has  done,  and  as  I  suspect  Paul 
found  before  him,  that  such  sicknesses  are  not  alto- 


Baltimore,  119 

gether  to  be  deplored,  for  they  draw  us  nearer  to 
God.  The  fine  new  meeting  house  built  of  brick  at 
a  cost  of  46,000  dollars,  was  well  filled,  for  many  of 
the  Hicksites  and  others  like  to  come.  I  took  for 
my  text,  '  The  Lord  is  my  strength  and  song,  and  He 
is  become  my  salvation.  He  is  my  God  and  I  will 
prepare  Him  an  habitation.'  Just  as  I  had  finished, 
the  alarm  bell  sounded  '  Fire '  from  a  neighbouring 
steeple,  and  this  gave  the  next  speaker  her  subject. 

*'  During  the  sittings  of  the  Yearly  Meeting  there 
was  a  lively  discussion  on  Teetotalism,  and  an  en- 
quiry was  directed  to  be  made  as  to  how  many  of 
their  members  are  using  intoxicating  drinks.  There 
seemed  to  be  no  question  in  the  mind  of  any  Friend 
present  as  to  the  desirability  of  all  being  complete 
abstainers,  and  we  heard  some  strong  expressions  on 
the  '  immorality  of  touching  the  accursed  thing.'  A 
Friend  from  North  Carolina  told  us  that  years  ago 
there  were  some  hundreds  using  it  in  their  Yearly 
Meeting,  but  that  last  year  the  delinquents  were  re- 
duced to  one.  Dr.  Rhoads  spoke  of  the  way  in  which 
the  concern  was  carried  out  in  Philadelphia,  and  how 
affectionately  and  earnestly  they  are  wont  to  plead 
with  their  members  on  the  subject.  On  the  consid- 
eration of  the  state  of  the  Society,  special  reference 
was  made  to  the  query  which  goes  down  to  the  sub- 
ordinate meetings  on  the  subject  of  reading.  'Are 
Friends  careful  to  guard  against  the  introduction  of 
improper  books  into  their  families?'  Dr.  Rhoads 
urged  the  necessity  of  religious  teaching,  and  *the 
importance  of  Friends  meeting  together  for  the  read- 
ing of  Holy  Scripture." 


120  Memories  of  Stanley  PuvipJirey. 

Stanley  Pumphrey  visited  Baltimore  again  on  his 
return  from  North  Carolina  in  February,  1876,  and 
had  meetings  morning  and  evening  all  the  time  he 
was  there.  They  were  well  attended  and  he  enjoyed 
them  much.  Many  took  part  in  them,  and  he  felt 
that  he  was  amongst  brethren  and  sisters  in  the 
Lord.  The  concluding  meeting  especially  seemed 
full  of  the  love  of  Jesus,  and  Stanley  took  as  his 
keynote  the  lines. 

How  sweet  the  name  of  Jesus  sounds 

In  a  believer's  ear, 
It  soothes  his  sorrows,  heals  his  wounds, 

And  drives  away  his  fear. 

He  found  in  Francis  T.  King  an  able  administra- 
tor, whose  mind  was  full  of  large  thoughts  for  the 
welfare  of  mankind.  There  had  been  steadily  grow- 
ing up  in  his  mind  a  great  scheme  for  a  more  com- 
plete system  of  education  among  Friends  in  America, 
with  a  view  to  their  becoming  to  a  much  greater  ex- 
tent the  educators  of  the  country.  Excluded  from 
the  pulpit,  and  engaged  to  a  very  limited  extent  at 
the  bar  or  in  public  offices,  he  justly  felt  that  there 
is  no  reason  why  Friends  should  not  enter  the  more 
thoroughly  into  the  work  of  education,  and  thus  do 
much  to  mould  the  mind  of  the  people.  In  Balti- 
more the  remark  is  often  made  to  Friends,  **Your 
word  is  as  good  as  another  man's  bond,"  and  lately 
individuals  have  been  brought  into  the  Society  by 
simply  beholding  the  upright  consistency  and  integ- 
rity of  life  of  the  members. 

The  more  intimate  acquaintance  Stanley  enjoyed 


Baltimore.  121 

with  the  Friends  there,  the  more  cordially  he  appre- 
ciated them,  and  after  repeated  visits  he  heartily  re- 
echoed the  opinion  Elizabeth  L.  Comstock  had  ex- 
pressed to  him,  ''Thou  wilt  find  a  loving  and  lovely 
circle  of  Friends  at  Baltimore." 
6 


CHAPTER    IX. 

NORTH   CAROLINA. 

**  I  HAD  to  rise  soon  after  three  o'clock,"  writes 
Stanley  Pumphrey  on  the  4th  November,  1875,  "  to 
come  down  into  North  Carolina.  At  the  station  I 
met  my  good  friend  Robert  Haines,  of  Germantown, 
who  has  kindly  undertaken  to  accompany  me,  and 
whom  I  thankfully  accept  as  the  companion  of  the 
Lord's  providing.  We  were  finally  turned  out  with 
our  baggage  on  the  line  in  the  middle  of  a  wood, 
and  after  a  little  reconnoitring  found  a  wagon  that 
was  ready  to  take  our  belongings  to  New  Garden, 
while  we  tramped. 

"  New  Garden  is  a  school-house  in  the  midst  of  the 
woods.  The  large  Meeting  House  lately  erected 
stands  near  by,  but  there  is  no  other  house  in  sight. 

"  Our  lodging  room  is  fitted  up  for  six  friends,  and 
has  one  jug  and  bason  and  soap  dish  as  the  comple- 
ment of  earthenware.  The  Yearly  Meeting  assem- 
bled on  the  following  day,  the  wagons  driving  up 
with  their  curious  projecting  roofs,  and  loaded  with 
the  families  of  Friends,  and  with  bedding,  provi- 
sions, and  other  necessaries  of  life.  Many  sleep  in 
the  wagons.  Some  found  lodgings  a  mile  or  two 
off,  and  the  school-house  is  stretched  to  its  utmost 
capacity,  with  shake-downs  spread  over  the  school- 


North  Carolina.  123 

room  floor.  We  only  had  six  in  our  room,  except 
that  one  night  we  made  up  a  bed  with  our  wrappers 
for  a  friend  on  the  floor.  Yardley  Warner  was  the 
elder  brother,  and  was  ready  for  any  emergency  ;  and 
then  there  were  Charles  Hubbard,  Dr.  Garner  of  Ten- 
nessee, Edward  Scull  of  Philadelphia,  and  ourselves. 

"  Every  one  speaks  of  the  great  advance  that  has 
been  made  since  the  war,  but  the  Yearly  Meeting 
presents  the  appearance  of  a  company  in  the  position 
of  small  farmers  and  agricultural  labourers.  The 
sun-bonnets  on  the  women's  side  that  were  universal 
a  few  years  ago  are  fast  disappearing,  and  som.e  of 
the  young  women  go  in  for  ribbons.  The  proportion 
of  Friends  wearing  the  conventional  dress  of  the 
Society  is  not  large. 

"  In  the  war  of  Independence,  a  battle  took  place 
close  by,  the  wounded  soldiers  were  carried  into  the 
old  Meeting  House,  where  the  stains  of  blood  are 
still  shown  on  the  floor,  and  many  were  buried  in 
the  adjoining  graveyard  under  a  large  oak  tree. 
The  New  Meeting  House  is  capable  of  holding  800 
people  on  the  ground  floor,  with  a  small  gallery  run- 
ning round  three  sides  where  the  coloured  people 
sit.  On  First-day  the  house  was  crowded  in  every 
part,  and  probably  1200  w^ere  present,  many  standing 
the  whole  time.  The  usual  order  of  the  meetings 
through  the  week  was,  at  half-past  eight  in  the 
morning  for  prayer,  confession  and  religious,  en- 
quiry. At  ten  o'clock  the  Yearly  Meeting  sat  down 
for  business  till  two  o'clock.  In  the  afternoon  the 
various  committees  were  held,  and  in  the  evening  a 
conference  on  some  special  subject. 


124  Memories  of  Stanley  PiimpJirey. 

**  Carolina  Friends  have  a  First-day  School  in  con- 
nection with  every  meeting.  Many  besides  Friends 
attend  them.  Friends  have  also  established  many 
Day  Schools,  which  are  a  great  blessing  in  the  State." 

Friends  have  for  several  generations  been  estab- 
lished in  this  State.  Williamson,  the  historian,  says, 
*'A  considerable  part  of  the  inhabitants  were  of  the 
people  called  Quakers."  There  were  also  many  in 
South  Carolina,  some  in  Georgia,  and  some  in  Ten- 
nessee, all  included  in  one  Yearly  Meeting. 

The  kindly  influence  of  their  principles  extended 
throughout  the  colonies,  many  of  the  members  of  the 
legislature  being  Friends.  During  the  dissensions 
and  disorders  prevailing  in  1695,  John  Archdale,  a 
Friend,  one  of  the  proprietors  of  the  Colony,  *'  a  man 
of  great  prudence,  sagacity,  and  command  of  temper, 
was  appointed  Governor  of  Carolina  ;  he  was  vested 
with  authority  so  great  that  the  proprietors  thought 
fit  to  have  it  recorded  in  his  commission,  that  such 
powers  were  not  to  be  claimed  as  a  precedent  by  fu- 
ture governors."  By  his  influence  exemption  from 
bearing  arms  was  granted  to  all  who  felt  restrained 
by  religious  principle.  The  whole  of  his  conduct  to- 
ward the  Indians  was  influenced  by  justice  and  kind- 
ness. In  speaking  of  the  prosperity  of  the  Colony  of 
South  Carolina,  the  Commons,  assembled  at  Charles- 
ton, say,  '*  We  do  and  shall  for  ever  be  most  heartily 
obliged  to  own  it,  as  a  production  of  the  wisdom  and 
discretion,  patience  and  labour  of  the  honourable 
John  Archdale,  Esq.,  our  Governor."  '■'•  It  is  worthy 
of  remark  that  while  harmony  has  been  marred,  and 
secessions  have  occurred  in  many  of  the  Yearly  Meet- 


North   Carolina.  125 

ings  on  the  American  Continent,  North  Carolina  has 
maintained  its  position  as  the  advocate  of  sound 
Christian  Doctrine,  neither  the  spirit  of  misrule  nor 
the  principles  of  infidelity  having  found  a  resting 
place  there."  The  Yearly  Meetings  of  Ohio,  West- 
ern, Indiana,  and  Iowa  were  principally  established  by 
Friends  and  their  descendants  from  North  Carolina. 

'*  Of  the  eight  Quarterly  Meetings  composing  this 
Yearly  Meeting,  two  are  across  the  mountains  in 
Tennessee,  four  are  situated  in  a  district  a  little  to 
the  north  of  the  centre  of  the  State,  one  is  near  Golds- 
boro',  and  another  in  the  north-east  corner  near  the 
Atlantic  Ocean,  The  influence  of  slavery  told  in- 
juriously on  the  whole  country,  and  our  Friends 
shared  in  the  injurious  influence. 

*'  The  most  enterprising  left  a  worn-out  soil  not  nat- 
urally fertile,  and  went  west,  leaving  the  less  ener- 
getic on  the  old  patrimonial  homes.  Their  houses 
are  often  built  of  logs,  and  an  upper  story  is  the  ex- 
ception. The  whole  domestic  arrangements  are  on 
a  scale  of  startling  simplicity.  The  produce  raised 
on  the  farm  supplies  the  table,  bread  made  of  Indian 
corn  meal,  and  pork,  being  the  staple  food,  and  the 
garments  are  often  home  spun.  Allen  Jay  assured 
me  that  many  of  the  Friends  did  not  handle  fifty  dol- 
lars in  the  year.  The  entire  absence  of  windows  from 
the  dwellings  is  by  no  means  an  unusual  experience." 

After  the  Yearly  Meeting,  Stanley  Pumphrey  pro- 
ceeded to  visit  the  missions  in  Carolina,  in  company 
with  Robert  Haines  and  Fernando  Cartland. 

''  On  the  Sabbath  we  drove  to  Westfield.  The 
people  gathered  irregularly,  as  the  sun  is  their  only 


126  Memories  of  Stanley  Pumphrey, 

clock,  and  on  the  arrival  of  the  preachers,  they 
turned  into  the  house.  They  hitch  their  horses 
to  the  trees  all  around.  The  Meeting  Houses  are 
built  of  logs  fitted  together  and  the  joints  filled  up 
with  mud,  and  some  of  them  have  all  the  glass  out 
of  the  windows.  We  slept  at  Hunting  Creek.  The 
Friends  did  their  best  for  us,  seemed  glad  to  have 
us,  and  I  could  not  but  enjoy  being  with  them.  My 
bedroom  opened  off  the  porch,  and  was  eight  feet  by 
ten  ;  the  window  had  no  glass,  but  was  protected  at 
night  by  a  shutter  that  sprang  open  and  let  in  a 
stream  of  cold  air.  We  washed  out  of  doors,  the 
morning  was  frosty,  and  the  things  froze  while  we 
were  out."  In  these  rough  country  districts  the  gos- 
pel minister  is  very  welcome,  and  the  people  gladly 
came  again  and  again  to  the  meetings,  for  they  usu- 
ally have  little  ministry.  All  round  there  is  a  strong 
feelins:  in  favour  of  Friends.  "  All  that  is  wanted  is 
a  minister,  and  you  might  have  the  whole  country 
round,"  was  the  remark  made  as  the  gospel  messen- 
gers made  their  way  in  North  Carolina.  But  the 
way  was  rough.  In  making  for  one  centre,  Fer- 
nando their  guide,  lost  the  track.  The  road  looked 
fair  at  first,  but  ended  in  a  pool  with  a  dam  right 
across  the  track  to  keep  in  the  water.  The  driver, 
nothing  daunted,  took  his  horses  and  vehicle  over 
the  dam  and  splashed  through  the  water  till  he  came 
to  firmer  ground.  Reaching  a  better  road,  they 
learnt,  as  they  had  surmised,  from  the  first  persons 
they  met,  that  they  were  going  in  the  wrong  direc- 
tion. It  was  dark  when  they  reached  a  negro's  hut 
and  enquired,  "Are  we  in  the  right  way  ?  "     "No, 


North  Carolina,  127 

you  are  not,"  answered  the  man  of  colour.  *'  Follow 
me."  He  led  them  through  the  bushes  till  they 
came  again  to  something  like  a  track.  *'  Keep  on 
down  here,  cross  the  water,  go  up  the  hill,  turn  to 
the  right,  and  you  will  find  a  gate  that  will  take  you 
straight."  On  they  went,  the  wood  becoming  denser, 
the  night  darker,  and  the  road  steeper.  At  last  the 
stream  was  crossed  and  the  gate  reached,  but  on 
passing  through  it,  there  was  no  track  whatever 
right  or  left,  only  a  ploughed  field.  But  they  were 
now  near  their  quarters,  and  crossing  the  field,  they 
found  the  homestead  they  were  aiming  for.  Here,  dur- 
ing the  war,  Joseph  James  Neave  held  a  remarkable 
meeting  w^ith  a  number  of  poor  fellows  w^ho  were 
hiding  from  the  conscription  in  the  woods.  The 
people  seemed  to  drink  in  the  words  as  Stanley 
Pumphrey  addressed  them  on  prayer  and  family 
worship,  and  on  the  Saviour's  readiness  to  welcome 
Ull  who  would  come  to  Him.  Here  again,  a  resi- 
dent, pastoral,  teaching  ministry  is  a  great  want. 

Proceeding  to  Factory  Shops,  a  small  settlement 
where  there  is  aWesleyan  chapel,  they  found  that 
service  was  only  held  there  once  a  month.  This  is 
a  common  arrangement  in  this  district.  Friends  are, 
in  many  places,  the  only  people  who  have  public 
worship  every  w^eek. 

Education  is  at  a  low  ebb.  Four  months  a  year  of 
schooling  is  all  that  most  of  the  children  get.  The 
school  session  commences  about  the  end  of  the  year. 
The  schoolmasters  are  not  of  an  advanced  order.  ''Is 
it  a  King  or  a  Queen  that  rules  over  thy  country  ? " 
**  What  is  her  name?"  were  the  enquiries  one  of 


128  Memories  of  Stanley  Picmphrey. 

these   schoolmasters  made.       ''  Thee   sees  we   don't 
know  a  great  deal,  but  we  wish  to  learn,"  he  added. 

As  for  the  Meeting  Houses,  the  better  class  are 
like  barns,  others  are  like  poor  sheds.  They  are  often 
built  of  logs,  roughly  mortised  together,  and  the 
spaces  filled  with  mud.  The  lowest  log  is  placed  on 
piles  of  stones,  and  in  one  case  the  pigs  had  worked 
their  way  between  these  piles  of  stones,  and  rendered 
the  Meeting  House  utterly  untenantable. 

On  the  15th  December,  1875,  Stanley  writes  from 
Rocky  River,  in  the  same  district,  where  he  called  on 
a  poor  widow  with  five  children,  the  eldest  of  whom 
was  about  nine  years  old.  In  reading  her  Bible,  this 
widow  came  to  the  conclusion  it  was  her  duty  to  give 
the  tenth  of  the  increase  of  her  land  to  the  Lord.  It 
w^as  a  trial  to  her  faith,  for  she  was  very  poor,  but 
when  the  little  crop  was  gathered  in,  she  scrupu- 
lously set  the  tenth  aside  and  handed  it  over  to  Allen  , 
Jay.  Her  neighbours  told  her  it  was  fairly  taking 
the  bread  out  of  the  children's  mouths  ;  but  it  proved 
to  be  the  very  means  of  bringing  them  help.  The 
little  farm  was  also  blessed.  Although  the  land  was 
very  poor,  and  she  had  no  means  of  manuring  it,  she 
had  a  larger  yield  than  any  of  her  neighbours.  The 
neighbours  could  not  understand  it,  but  she  knew  it 
was  the  Lord. 

Another  widow,  a  Friend,  living  at  Westfield,  was 
very  poor,  and  had  nothing  to  depend  on  but  her 
little  plot  of  land.  During  a  season  of  drought  the 
corn  was  drying  up,  and  there  seemed  nothing  be- 
fore them  but  starvation.  She  called  her  children 
together,  and  told  them  to  ask  the  Lord  for  rain. 


North  Carolina.  129 

There  seemed  no  sign  of  change  of  weather,  but  that 
night  came  a  most  refreshing  shower.  The  farmers 
round  said  they  had  never  known  rain  come  so  unex- 
pectedly before. 

As  Stanley  Pumphrey  moved  among  these  people, 
he  says,  ''  I  spoke  of  the  beautiful  kindness  of  Jesus,  in 
the  raising  of  the  son  of  the  widow  of  Nain,  and  in 
commending  his  own  mother  to  the  care  of  John 
when  He  agonized  on  the  cross.  I  quoted  the  line 
of  an  old  English  author,  who  calls  Jesus  *  the  first 
true  gentleman  that  ever  breathed.'  As  I  spoke  of 
these  things,  good  old  Allen  Tomlinson's  eyes  filled 
with  tears.  He  had  never  thought  of  our  Saviour  in 
this  light,  and  he  added,  '  We  should  like  thee  to  tell 
us  these  things  again,  they  are  so  new  to  us.'  In  the 
evening  I  met  an  interesting  company  of  men  and 
women  in  the  prime  of  life,  at  Bush  Hill.  I  read  the 
Book  of  Haggai  to  them.  We  are  too  ready  to  look 
after  our  own  concerns  first.  We  must  look  after 
our  crop,  and  get  good  ceiled  houses  of  our  own. 
The  Lord's  house  ought  to  be  seen  to  some  time,  no 
doubt,  but  '  the  time  is  not  come  yet,'  for  the  Lord's 
house  to  be  built.  *  Consider  your  ways.'  *  I  am 
with  you,  saith  the   Lord.'     *  Be  strong  and  work.' 

*  My    spirit   remaineth    among   you,    fear    ye    not.' 

*  From  this  time  I  will  bless  you.'  " 

Arriving  at  Spring  on  the  21st  December,  1875, 
Stanley  says,  ''  This  is  the  meeting  that  was  once  re- 
duced to  a  single  member,  who  resuscitated  the  meet- 
ing by  preaching  as  he  thought  to  empty  benches,  but 
in  reality  to  several  listeners  outside  who  became 
Friends.  The  indefiniteness  of  time  in  these  parts 
6* 


130  Memories  of  Stanley  Pumphrey. 

sometimes  caused  confusion.  The  usual  hour  for 
meetings  to  gather  is  'early  candle-light,'  and  the 
time  for  breakfast  is  '  half  an  hour  by  sun.' 

''  It  was  a  very  dark  night  for  our  meeting  at 
Chatham,  and  the  wind  blew  keen  from  the  North- 
East.  The  Meeting  House  was  draughty,  and  the 
windows  had  less  glass  than  usual.  One  of  the 
Friends  used  his  hat  as  a  stop-gap  in  one,  and  I  lent 
mine  for  another  window  ;  but  an  extra  strong  blast 
of  wind  sent  both  hats  on  to  the  floor.  They  were 
fixed  up  stronger  again,  and  we  got  through  the 
meeting  to  satisfaction  and  comfort.  Our  quarters 
were  humble.  The  breakfast-room  had  no  window, 
but  was  abundantly  ventilated  ;  and  washing  out  of 
doors  with  the  thermometer  at  12°  was  rather  a 
chilly  operation. 

''  Such  congregations  as  we  have  had  at  Spring  and 
at  Deep  River  could  not  have  been  seen  two  or  three 
years  ago,  nor  anything  approaching  to  them.  The 
whole  appearance  of  the  people  is  most  creditable. 
The  Carolina  Friends  are  some  of  them  munificent 
givers  in  proportion  to  their  very  limited  means. 
When  the  new  Meeting  House  at  Spring  was  to  be 
built,  Thomas  AYoody  came  forward  and  said,  '  I  will 
give  a  tenth  of  all  that  I  possess  towards  it,'  and  he 
afterwards  raised  it  to  a  sixth.  When  they  were  in 
trouble  about  the  school  debt,  which  had  run  up 
grievously,  David  White,  a  venerable  man  and  nearly 
blind,  rose  and  said,  '  Friends,  the  debt  must  be  paid. 
The  honour  of  truth  is  at  stake.  I  will  give  a  fourth 
of  all  that  I  possess,'  and  the  old  man  brought  down 
his  staff  on  the  floor  with  vehemence." 


North  Carolina.  131 

On  leaving  Allen  Jay's  happy  home,  Stanley 
writes,  *'  I  feel  very  unworthy  of  so  much  love,  and 
wish  to  accept  it  as  given  for  Jesus  Christ  and  His 
Gospel's  sake,  as  the  fulfilment  of  His  own  promise 
(Mark  x.  29,  30),  the  literalness  of  which  I  never  so 
fully  realized  before.  Truly  it  has  been  as  though 
fathers  and  mothers,  brothers  and  sisters,  houses  and 
lands,  have  been  given.  I  wish  to  accept  the  warn- 
ing of  the  words  that  follow,  *  Many  that  are  first 
shall  be  last,  and  the  last  first'  It  is  so  sadly  easy  to 
turn  aside,  and  we  have  such  a  continual  need  of  the 
*  keeping  '  of  the  Lord." 

At  Piney  Woods,  large  meetings  were  held.  **  In 
the  morning,  over  400  were  present,  and  the  men's 
side  was  so  full  that  we  had  to  arrange  the  little 
boys  along  the  footboards  of  the  galleries,  which,  as 
it  kept  them  under  the  eye  of  their  elders,  promoted 
their  good  behaviour.  I  spoke  from  the  words,  '  We 
must  all  appear  befoi^  the  judgment  seat  of  Christ,' 
and  'Every  one  of  us  must  give  account  of  himself 
to  God.'  The  'Lord  calls  us  now  and  offers  a  free 
and  full  salvation  to  all  who  will  accept  it.  We  had 
a  large  attendance  again  in  the  afternoon,  for  almost 
all  brought  their  dinners  with  them  and  remained. 
I  took  the  text,  *We  are  the  Lord's,' quoting  dear 
Ellen's  favourite  stanza  in  Samuel  Rutherford's  Last 
Words  : 


I  am  my  beloved's, 

And  my  beloved  is  mine, 
He  brings  a  poor  vile  sinner 

Into  His  house  of  wine  ; 


132  Mejnories  of  Stanley  Purnphrey. 

I  stand  upon  His  merits, 

I  know  no  other  stand, 
Not  e'en  where  glory  dwelleth 

In  Emmanuel's  land. 

*'  It  is  true  we  have  something  to  give  up  in  join- 
ing ourselves  to  the  Lord.  But  love  loses  sight  of 
sacrifices.  Does  the  young  bride  dwell  on  what  she 
gives  up  in  leaving  her  old  home  ?  Is  it  not  her 
husband's  love  that  occupies  her,  and  is  she  not 
amply  repaid  ?  How  incomparably  more  so  between 
the  soul  and  Christ." 

Stanley  proceeded  the  same  week  to  the  newly-es- 
tablished meeting  at  Up-river.  ''  Generally  in  this 
country  the  congregation  gathers  slowly,  but  here 
they  were  all  ready  before  time,  '  a  hungry  crowd,' 
as  Allen  Jay  expressed  it.  The  house  had  never 
been  so  full  before,  and  never  were  there  so  many 
babies  present,  they  said.  There  were  something 
like  forty  under  two  years  old.*  To  speak  in  a  close 
and  over-heated  atmosphere  to  a  large  concourse,  so 
as  to  drown  the  voices  of  a  score  or  two  of  babies,  is 
hard  upon  the  lungs,  and  I  had  to  stop  and  beg  for 
air.  I  dwelt  on  the  words  '  Said  I  not  unto  thee  that 
if  thou  wouldst  believe  thou  shouldst  see  the  glory 
of  God.'  The  Lord  says  this  not  only  to  the  con- 
verted but  to  the  sinner,  promising  him  a  free  par- 
don on  his  belief  in  Jesus  Christ.  A  young  man 
w^ho  had  been  careless  and  wild  was  prayed  with, 
and  found  peace,  publicly  exclaiming  in  the  meet- 
ing, 'Bless  the  Lord,  O  my  soul.'  The  afternoon 
meeting  was  occupied  with  short  testimonies  and 
prayers.     We  had  one  lovely  testimony  from  a  dear 


North   Carolina.  133 

girl  of  fifteen,  who  told  us  she  had,  for  several  years, 
been  a  child  of  God,  and  now  desired  to  give  herself 
more  completely  to  the  Lord  than  ever. 

*'  In  eleven  days  Allen  Jay  and  I  have  had  twenty- 
nine  meetings,  and  several  times  I  suppose  I  spoke 
fully  three  hours  in  the  day.  You  may  think  it  too 
much  ;  but  the  people  are  hungry,  and  the  Lord 
calls,  and  certainly  strength  has  been  given  beyond 
what  I  have  asked  or  thought  of,  for  this  Carolina 
work.  I  have  had  strength  of  body  and  of  voice,  of 
mind  and  soul,  for  each  day's  work  as  it  arose.  I 
have  been  received  with  unvarying  kindness,  and  the 
Lord  has  given  me  very  helpful  companions.  I  be- 
lieve too  that  He  has  forgiven  the'  manifold  imper- 
fections and  negligences.  What  shall  I  render  unto 
the  Lord  for  all  his  benefits  ?  The  fields  here  are 
white  unto  harvest,  and  the  labourers  are  few,  and 
the  prayer  has  often  arisen  under  the  sense  of  the 
need  of  our  own  people,  of  their  neighbours,  and  es- 
pecially of  the  coloured  race.  Lord  send  more  la- 
bourers and  raise  up  efficient  helpers  among  the 
Carolinians  themselves." 


CHAPTER  X. 

ILLUSTRATIONS    OF    PEACE    PRINCIPLES. 

*'  In  the  course  of  my  travels,  especially  in  Carolina, 
I  met  with  a  number  of  striking  illustrations  of  the 
faithful  carrying  out  of  peace  principles  under  cir- 
cumstances of  peculiar  trial.  I  believe  the  record  of 
them  will  have  a  value  beyond  that  of  their  mere 
interest,  and  I  have  therefore  collected  them  to- 
gether.* 

The  test  to  which  our  peace  principles  were  put 
during  the  great  American  struggle  was  one  of  un- 
paralleled severity,  more  so  in  some  respects  to  those 
living  in  the  North  than  in  the  South.  Throughout 
the  North  there  was  on  the  part  of  the  people  a  pro- 
found conviction  that  for  them  it  was  an  inevitable 
and  righteous  conflict — one  that  they  were  waging 
for  the  maintenance  of  law  and  order,  and  in  behalf 
of  the  sacred  cause  of  liberty.  The  popular  enthusi- 
asm was  intense,  and  while  the  companions  of  the 
young  Friends,  in  what  seemed  a  noble  and  self- 
sacrificing  devotion,  were  joining  the  ranks,  nothing 
but  the  strength  of  conscientious  conviction  could 
enable  them  firmly  to  hold  aloof  and  say,  *  While 
respecting  your  motives  and  objects,  the  course  you 

*  "  Friends'  Quarterly  Examiner." 


Illustrations  of  Peace  Principles.  135 

are  taking  is  not  for  us,  because  we  believe  all  war 
to  be  forbidden  by  Christ.'  Several  of  our  members 
did  join  the  Northern  army,  some  of  them  avowing 
that  they  believed  it  to  be  their  duty  to  do  so. 

The  difficulty  in  which  Friends  were  placed  was 
well  described  by  Abraham  Lincoln  in  that  letter  to 
Eliza  P.  Gurney  which  William  E.  Forster  said  was 
one  of  the  most  remarkable  State  papers  he  had  ever 
seen.  '  Your  people,  the  Friends,  have  had,  and  are 
having,  a  very  great  trial.  On  principle  and  faith 
opposed  to  both  war  and  oppression,  they  can  only 
practically  oppose  oppression  by  war.  In  this  hard 
dilemma  some  have  chosen  one  horn,  and  some  the 
other.  For  those  appealing  to  me  on  conscientious 
grounds,  I  have  done,  and  shall  do,  the  best  I  could, 
and  can,  in  my  own  conscience,  under  my  oath  to 
the  law.'  This  promise  was  faithfully  kept,  and  I 
did  not  hear  in  the  Northern  States  of  any  cruelty 
being  inflicted  on  account  of  refusal  to  bear  arms. 

While,  however,  not  a  few  young  Friends  joined 
the  Northern  army,  the  great  body  of  the  Society 
adhered  throughout  to  its  peace  principles.  '  Our 
path  is  clear,'  wrote  John  G.  Whittier,  when  address- 
ing the  alumni  of  the  New  England  Yearly  Meeting 
School, 

The  levelled  gun,  the  battle  brand, 

We  may  not  take ; 
But,  calmly  loyal,  we  can  stand, 
And  suffer  with  our  suffering  land, 
For  conscience'  sake. 

This  was  doubtless  the  general  sentiment  of 
Friends,   and  the  heart  of  the  Society  equally  re- 


136  Memories  of  Stanley  Pumphrey. 

spondee!  to  the  beautiful  stanzas,  in  which  the  poet 
pointed  out  avenues  that  lay  open,  where,  with  no 
compromise  of  religious  principle,  they  could  serve 
their  country. 

Thanks  for  our  privilege  to  bless, 

By  worjl  and  deed. 
The  widow  in  her  keen  distress, 
The  childless  and  the  fatherless, 

The  hearts  that  bleed  ! 

For  fields  of  duty  opening  wide, 

"Where  all  our  powers 
Are  tasked,  the  eager  steps  to  guide 
Of  millions  on  a  path  untried  : 

The  slave  is  ours. 

Ours  by  traditions  dear  and  old, 

Which  make  the  race 
Our  wards  to  cherish  and  uphold 
And  cast  their  freedom  in  the  mould 

Of  Christian  grace. 

Very  nobly  were  these  suggestions  carried  out  in 
the  efforts  made  by  Friends  for  the  freedmen  after 
their  emancipation,  and  in  other  ways. 

In  the  South  there  were  not  the  same  motives  for 
laying  aside  peace  principles  as  prevailed  in  the 
North.  The  Friends  were  loyal  to  the  Union,  and 
with  their  pronounced  anti-slavery  views  could  look 
with  no  sympathy  upon  the  founding  of  a  new  pol- 
ity, of  which  the  leaders  avowed  that  slavery  should 
be  the  corner-stone.  Accordingly  I  did  not  hear  of 
more  than  one  member  who  was  ever  known  to  take 
an  active  part  in  the  Southern  army.     Considering 


Illustrations  of  Peace  Principles.  137 

how  obnoxious  their  principles  must  have  been  to 
the  Confederate  Government,  it  is  to  their  credit  that 
they  often  showed  so  much  disposition  to  be  lenient 
towards  Friends.  In  Twelfth  Month,  1861,  a  few 
months  after  the  outbreak  of  hostilities,  an  attempt 
was  indeed  made  in  the  Carolina  Legislature  to  pass 
an  Act  by  which  every  free  male  person  above  six- 
teen years  of  age,  would  have  been  required,  under 
penalty  of  banishment  within  a  month,  publicly  to 
renounce  allegiance  to  the  United  States,  and  also 
to  promise  to  support,  maintain,  and  defend  the  In- 
dependent Government  of  the  Confederates.  But 
the  passing  of  this  Act  was  successfully  opposed. 
In  the  course  of  his  speech  against  it,  the  Hon.  Wil- 
liam Graham  poinded  out  that  it  would  amount  to  a 
decree  of  wholesale  expatriation  of  the  Quakers,  and 
*on  the  expulsion  of  such  a  people  from  amongst  us, 
the  whole  civilised  world,'  he  said,  *  would  cry  shame.' 
The  Conscription  Act,  by  which  every  man  between 
eighteen  and  thirty-five  was  ordered  into  the  army, 
passed  the  Confederate  Congress  in  Seventh  Month, 
1862,  and  a  deputation  of  Friends,  including  Nereus 
Mendenhall,  Isham  Cox,  and  John  B.  Crenshaw, 
waited  on  the  Legislature,  at  Richmond,  to  plead  for 
relief.  They  were  more  favourably  received  than 
might  have  been  expected,  and  an  Exemption  Act 
was  passed  by  which,  for  all  who  were  members  at 
the  time,  a  payment  of  500  dollars  was  accepted  in 
lieu  of  military  service.  This  Act  was  taken  into 
consideration  by  the  next  Yearly  Meeting,  and  its 
decision  was  against  accepting  its  provisions.  '  We 
cannot  conscientiously  pay  the  tax,'  says  the  Minute, 


138  Memories  of  Stanley  Pimiphrey. 

'  yet  we  appreciate  the  good  intentions  of  those jnem- 
bers  of  Congress  who  had  it  in  their  hearts  to  do 
something  for  our  relief  ;  and  we  recommend  that 
those  parents  or  young  men  who  have  availed  them- 
selves of  this  law  be  treated  in  a  tender  manner.' 
Notwithstanding  this  decision,  it  would  appear  that 
the  larger  number  of  those  who  were  drafted  paid 
the  500  dollars,  and  when,  through  the  depreciation 
of  the  Confederate  money,  this  amount  did  not  more 
than  represent  the  value  of  a  barrel  of  flour,  the 
temptation  to  purchase  liberty  so  cheaply  was  ex- 
tremely strong.  There  were,  however,  some  whose 
consciences  were  unyielding,  and  it  was  upon  them, 
and  upon  those  who,  having  joined  the  Societ}^  after 
the  passing  of  the  Act,  were  not  included  in  its  pro- 
visions, that  the  sufferings  fell.  The  motives  of  the 
latter  in  uniting  themselves  to  Friends  were  always 
liable  to  be  suspected,  but  they  stood  their  ground 
in  a  way  that  proved  their  sincerity.  A  few  instances 
from  among  this  class  shall  be  given  first. 

Seth  W.  Loughlin,  who  had  been  a  member  only 
a  few  months,  was  arrested,  taken  from  his  wife  and 
seven  children,  and  sent  to  the  camp  near  Peters- 
burg, Virginia.  On  his  continued  refusal  to  take 
up  arms,  they  first  tried  to  subdue  him  by  keeping 
him  from  sleep.  Then,  for  a  week,  he  was  daily 
'bucked  down,'  a  cruel  punishment,  in  which,  while 
the  hands  were  tied  below  the  knees,  the  body  was 
kept  in  a  painfully  stooping  and  constrained  posi- 
tion by  a  pole  being  thrust  between  the  knees  and 
elbows.  He  was  aftenvard  subjected  to  the  severer 
torture  of  being  hung  up  by  his  thumbs  for  an  hour 


Illustrations  of  Peace  Principles.  139 

and  a-half.  Still  firm  in  his  refusal,  he  was  at  last 
ordered  to  be  shot.  The  soldiers  were  drawn  out  in 
line,  and  were  read}^  to  fire,  when  he  cried  out, 
*  Father,  forgive  them,  they  know  not  what  they  do  ! ' 
On  hearing  this,  the  men  lowered  their  guns,  and 
the  captain  sent  him  back  to  prison.  Seized  with  a 
severe  illness,  he  was  transferred  to  a  hospital  in 
Richmond,  where  his  patience  through  his  long  suf- 
ferings touched  the  hearts  and  won  the  esteem  of  all 
who  were  with  him.  A  few  months  later  his  wife 
received  the  followins:  notification  from  an  officer  of 
the  regiment :  '  It  is  my  painful  duty  to  inform  you 
that  Seth  W.  Loughlin  died  in  Windsor  Hospital, 
Richmond,  on  the  8th  December,  1864.  He  died,  as 
he  had  lived,  a  true,  humble,  and  devoted  Christian, 
true  to  his  faith  and  religion.  We  pitied  him,  and 
sympathised  with  him,  but  he  is  rewarded  for  his 
fidelity,  and  is  at  rest.' 

Jesse  Bucknerwas  a  Colonel  in  the  Carolina  Mili- 
tia, and  at  the  commencement  of  hostilities  eagerly 
sided  with  the  South.  The  refusal  of  some  Friends 
to  join  in  a  parade  led  him  to  examine  into  their 
principles,  and  the  result  being  the  comdction  that 
they  were  right,  he  resigned  his  commission.  Not 
long  after,  he  lost  his  way  one  dark  night,  and  after 
wandering  some  time  found  himself  by  the  Friends' 
Meeting  House.  He  sat  down  upon  the  steps,  and 
it  was  clearly  impressed  upon  his  mind  that  he  must 
unite  himself  with  the  people  who  worshipped  there. 
His  conscription  followed  in  the  early  part  of  1862. 
Drafted  into  the  army,  he  was  sent  from  camp  to 
camp,  and  from  gaol  to  gaol,  suffering  cruelty,  hard- 


140  Menioi'ies  of  Stanley  Ptimphrey. 

ship,  and  abuse  for  three  years,  yet  bearing  all  with 
a  meekness  that  once  led  him  when  smitten  literally 
to  turn  the  other  cheek.  He  was  not  released  till 
the  surrender  of  Johnston's  army  in  1865. 

Three  brothers,  who  joined  the  Society  of  Friends 
after  the  passing  of  the  Exemption  Act,  were  ar- 
rested and  sent  to  Orange  Court  House,  Virginia. 
On  their  continued  refusal  to  join  the  ranks  one  of 
them  was  knocked  down  with  a  blow  that  severely 
gashed  his  head,  while  another  was  pierced  with  a 
bayonet.  The  American  officers,  failing  to  move 
them,  turned  them  over  to  a  German,  who  boasted 
that  he  would  make  them  yield.  Abuse,  threats,  and 
various  punishments  were  tried  in  vain,  and  they 
were  at  last  ordered  into  close  confinement  without 
food  or  drink,  and  it  was  made  a  court-martial  of- 
fence to  relieve  them.  For  three  days  and  nights 
these  cruel  orders  were  carried  out,  and  a  little  water, 
supplied  them  by  a  soldier  in  the  night,  was  the  only 
refreshment  they  obtained.  After  this  they  were 
*  bucked  down  '  for  over  three  hours  till,  under  agony 
and  starvation,  the  mind  of  the  youngest  gave  way. 
For  four  or  five  weeks  they  were  subjected  to  barba- 
rous treatment  like  this,  when  a  Friend,  who  was 
searching  for  them,  obtained  first  the  suspension  of 
the  cruelty,  and  soon  after  their  release. 

The  instances  thus  far  related  were  all  among  the 
newly  convinced  Friends.  The  birthright  members, 
who  were  conscientiously  restrained  from  buying 
their  exemption,  fared  no  better.  When  I  was  at 
Centre  Meeting,  North  Carolina,  in  Twelfth  Month, 
1875,  I  was  deeply  interested  in  reading  the  pencil 


Illustrations  of  Peace  Principles.  141 

journal  kept  in  a  small  pocket-book  by  William  B. 
Hockett,  during  the  time  he  was  with  the  army. 
From  that  journal  this  Friend  has  since  supplied  me 
with  copious  extracts,  which  he  permits  me  to  use. 
Some  nights  before  his  arrest  he  was  shown  in  a 
vision  that  he  would  be  carried  off  to  the  war,  and 
have  to  suffer  many  things,  The  thought  of  leaving 
his  wife,  with  a  babe  in  arms,  and  a  young  family 
unprovided  for,  distressed  him  very  much,  and  he 
pleaded  that  the  way  might  be  made  for  him  to 
stay. 

*Then,'  he  says,  *I  was  clearly  shown  that  it  was 
the  will  of  the  Lord  that  I  should  leave  all,  and  that 
He  would  be  a  husband  to  my  wife  and  a  father  to 
my  children,  and  that  they  should  lack  nothing  in 
my  absence  ;  and  that  if  I  was  obedient  to  manifested 
duty,  I  should  return  with  the  reward  of  peace  and 
find  all  well.  This  made  me  cry,  *  Not  my  will,  but 
Thine,  O  Lord,  be  done.'  My  dear  partner  strength- 
ened me,  saying,  '  Be  faithful  :  for  I  would  rather 
hear  of  thee  dying  a  martyr  for  Christ's  sake  than 
that  you  should  sin  against  Him  by  staying  with  me.' 
So  on  the  Eighth  day  of  Sixth  Month,  1863,  we  bade 
each  other  farewell.' 

William  Hockett  was  now  carried  forward  with  a 
detachment  of  troops,  under  orders  to  join  the  great 
division  of  the  Southern  army  that  had  invaded  Penn- 
sylvania, under  Lee.  On  the  23rd  he  was  brought 
up  before  Colonel  Kirkland,  who  commanded  him  to 
take  a  gun  and  go  into  the  ranks,  threatening  him 
with  instant  death  if  he  refused.  William  Hockett 
replied,  '  I  cannot  fight,  for  Christ  has  forbidden  it. 


142  Memories  of  Stanley  Ptimphrey. 

I  know  you  have  authority  to  order  me  to  be  shot, 
but  there  is  a  power  above  yours,  and  not  a  hair  of 
my  head  can  be  touched  without  my  Heavenly 
Father's  permission.'  If  such  were  the  will  of  God, 
he  was  ready  to  die  a  martyr  for  the  Saviour's  sake. 
Finding  it  useless  to  attempt  to  make  him  bear  arms, 
they  next  tried  to  get  him  to  work  in  the  wagon 
yard,  but  this  he  refused  just  as  steadily.  '  I  cannot 
work  at  anything,'  he  said,  *  to  aid  in  carrying  on 
war  ;  God  has  told  me  not  to  do  it,  and  I  fear  Him 
more  than  anything  that  man  can  do  to  me.' 

He  was  now  left  to  wait  his  trial  till  the  morning. 
During  the  night,  which  to  all  human  view  seemed 
likely  to  be  his  last,  his  thoughts  were  much  with 
his  dear  ones  at  home,  and  he  was  engaged  in  fer- 
vent prayer. 

'I  was  deeply  exercised,'  he  says,  *that  I  might 
be  favoured  to  bear  all  that  w^as  to  come  upon  me 
to  the  glory  of  the  Lord  and  the  spreading  of  His 
truth  in  the  earth.'  'Lord,'  he  prayed,  'not  my 
will  but  Thine  be  done,  If  it  is  Thy  will  that  I 
shall  lay  down  my  life,  be  pleased  to  pardon  my  sins 
for  Thy  dear  Son's  sake.  Take  away  the  fear  of 
man,  and  leave  me  not  in  the  hour  of  trial,  but  sup- 
port me  by  Thy  arm  of  power.  My  hope  is  in  Thee, 
that  Thou  wilt  control  the  raging  of  man  as  Thou 
didst  in  the  days  of  old  when  Thou  didst  protect 
Shadrach,  Meshach,  and  Abednego,  in  the  fiery  fur- 
nace, and  the  prophet  Daniel  in  the  lions'  den.  If  it 
be  Thy  will,  O  Lord,  Thou  canst  deliver  me  from 
those  who  seek  my  life,  and  enable  me  to  declare 
Thy  works  to  the  sons  and  daughters  of  men.     O 


Illustrations  of  Peace  Principles.  143 

God,  here  am  I  ;  come  life  or  come  death,  Thy  will, 
not  mine,  be  done.' 

In  the  morning,  when  the  order  was  given  to 
march,  William  Hockett  refused  to  take  his  place  in 
the  ranks.  This  greatly  exasperated  the  officer,  who 
at  once  told  him  to  prepare  for  death.  Some  soldiers 
were  drawn  up  a  few  paces  in  front  of  him,  and  at 
the  word  of  command  they  loaded  and  presented 
their  guns.  The  meek  and  faithful  Christian  prayed, 
*  Father,  forgive  them,  for  they  know  not  what  they 
do  ! '  The  guns  dropped,  and  the  men  were  heard  to 
say  that  they  could  not  shoot  such  a  man.  This  en- 
raged the  colonel  all  the  more,  and  with  an  oath  he 
declared  he  would  ride  over  him,  which  he  repeat- 
edly tried  to  do,  but  at  each  attempt  the  horse 
turned  aside  and  left  him  unharmed.  The  officer 
now  had  a  gun  tied  to  him,  and  knocking  him  rough- 
ly on  the  head,  said,  '  You  shall  walk  in  the  drill  or 
we  will  kill  you,'  William  Hockett  knelt  down  and 
prayed,  '  Lord,  lay  not  this  sin  to  their  charge  ;  and, 
oh,  give  me  strength  to  bear  all  these  afflictions  for 
Thy  great  name's  sake.'  Two  soldiers  were  next 
ordered  to  run  him  through  w^ith  their  bayonets  ; 
but  while  they  made  a  show  of  obeying,  and  one  of 
them  knocked  him  down  by  running  his  weapon  into 
the  carpet  sack  on  his  back,  they  evidently  had  no 
w4sh  to  take  his  life.  The  officer  at  last  left,  saying 
he  had  not  yet  done  with  him.  During  the  succeed- 
ing days  many  attempts  were  made  to  induce  him  to 
carry  a  gun  or  do  camp  work  ;  but  he  steadfastly  re- 
fused, disregarding  alike  their  threats  and  their  cru- 
elties. 


144  Memories  of  Stanley  Pumphrey. 

On  the  3rd  of  Seventh  Month  occurred  the  great 
battle  of  Gettysburg,  which  saved  Philadelphia  and 
turned  the  fortunes  of  the  war.  Among  the  many 
thousands  who  were  left  on  that  most  sanguinary  field 
w^as  the  officer  who  had  treated  this  faithful  Friend 
so  cruelly.  On  the  5th,  Wm.  Hockett  was  taken 
prisoner  by  the  Union  troops,  and  was  soon  after  set 
at  liberty  ;  and,  making  his  way  to  Philadelphia,  was 
assisted  by  the  Friends  there  to  get  to  Indiana,  where 
he  remained  till  the  war  was  over. 

On  the  30th  of  Sixth  Month,  1865,  he  met  his  wife 
beneath  the  oak  under  which  they  had  parted  two 
years  before.  The  promise  then  given  had  been  ful- 
filled ;  he  had  been  kept  through  all  dangers  and  was 
returned  in  peace.  His  wife,  also,  had  been  w^onder- 
fully  cared  for.  Her  sorrows  and  her  toils  had  indeed 
been  great — for  all  the  work  of  the  little  farm,  which 
furnished  their  sole  sustenance,  depended  on  her 
exertions  ;  yet  she  could  testify  that  she  and  her 
children  had  been  fed.  Johnston's  army  had  been 
many  weeks  in  the  neighbourhood,  and  his  troops 
on  two  occasions  had  filled  their  yard  from  morning 
till  night,  but  not  even  a  chicken  had  been  taken 
without  leave  ;  and  while  the  country  had  been  ran- 
sacked for  available  horses,  and  scarcely  one  of  any 
value  had  been  left,  the  fine  young  horse  which  was 
so  important  to  her  was  untouched.  *  No  one  was 
permitted  to  bridle  him,'  says  the  simple  record,  *  be- 
cause the  Lord  knew  that  the  corn  that  was  planted 
would  have  to  be  ploughed,  or  it  would  not  grow, 
and  the  promise  was  that  my  wife  should  not  want 
during  my  absence.' 


Illustrations  of  Peace  Principles.  145 

The  sufferings  of  Himilius  and  Jesse  Hockett  in 
some  respects  exceeded  in  severity  those  inflicted,  on 
their  brother  William,  as  just  described.  They  were 
first  drafted  in  the  spring  of  1862,  and  on  refusal  to 
drill  were  threatened  with  being  shot,  but,  after  a 
short  imprisonment,  were  allowed  to  go  home. 

On  the  3rd  of  Fourth  Month,  1863,  they  were  again 
arrested,  under  the  conscript  law,  and  assigned  to  an 
Artillery  Company  at  Kingston.  On  refusing  to  bear 
arms,  they  were  brought  before  the  commanding-offi- 
cer. General  Ransom,  who  spoke  to  them  Avith  great 
severity,  and  told  them  he  should  give  them  three 
alternatives, — either  to  go  into  the  army,  to  find  sub- 
stitutes, or  to  do  other  army  work  instead  of  fighting, 
and  until  they  made  up  their  minds  which  to  accept 
they  should  be  kept  without  food  or  drink  of  any 
kind.  They  replied  that  they  could  accept  neither  : 
they  could  not  fight,  for  it  would  be  disobedience  to 
Christ  ;  they  could  not  pay  another  to  do  for  them 
what  they  could  not  in  conscience  do  themselves  ; 
they  could  not  perform  army  work  of  any  kind,  since 
their  service  would  liberate  others  to  engage  in  kill- 
ing their  fellow-men.  Accordingly  they  were  re- 
manded to  prison,  and  for  four  days  and  five  nights 
the  threat  was  carried  out,  and  they  were  kept  with- 
out so  much  as  a  crumb  of  bread  or  drop  of  water. 
Their  sufferings,  from  thirst  especially,  were  exceed- 
ingly severe.  Many  came  to  see  them,  and  were  as- 
tonished at  their  calmness  and  patience  ;  and  as  rea- 
sons were  given  from  Holy  Scripture  why  they  could 
not  fight,  some  of  their  visitors  encouraged  them, 
and  said  if  they  could  only  have  such  faith  as  the 
7 


146  Memories  of  Stanley  Piimphrey. 

Quakers  they  would  not  compromise  their  principles 
for  any  earthly  consideration. 

On  the  third  night  they  were  awakened  by  the 
sound  of  rain,  and  could  easily  have  procured  from 
the  window  of  their  cell  enough  water  to  slake  their 
thirst.  Their  first  impulse  was  to  do  so,  but  before 
they  had  spoken  to  one  another  each  separately  felt 
restrained,  and  they  concluded  they  had  better  not. 
To  some  this  will  no  doubt  seem  a  wilful  or  even 
fanatical  setting  aside  of  a  providential  relief,  but  as 
a  matter  of  fact  it  resulted  in  their  deliverance. 
General  Ransom,  who  could  hardly  be  persuaded 
that  his  prisoners  could  hold  out  as  they  did  unless 
refreshment  were  being  secretly  conveyed  to  them, 
became  satisfied  on  this  circumstance  coming  to  his 
knowledge  that  his  orders  had  been  obeyed,  and  he 
relented. 

On  the  fifth  day  their  rations  were  restored  to 
them.  Their  sufferings,  however,  were  far  from  be- 
ing at  an  end.  A  month  later  they  were  brought 
before  another  officer,  General  Daniels,  who  told 
them  as  they  would  not  fight  he  would  place  them 
in  the  very  next  battle  in  front  of  the  foremost  ranks 
to  stop  the  bullets  for  those  who  would.  To  this 
they  meekly  answered  that  they  preferred  suffering 
to  doing  wrong.  On  being  remanded  to  prison,  the 
officers  again  tried  to  get  them  to  do  some  simple 
and  apparently  unobjectionable  work,  but  they  again 
explained  that  they  believed  it  to  be  wrong  for  them 
to  undertake  anything  whatsoever  as  military  ser- 
vice. 

Fresh  punishments  were  now  devised.      Forked 


Illustrations  of  Peace  Prhiciples,  147 

poles  were  fastened  to  their  necks,  and  from  the 
prongs,  as  they  projected  behind,  hea^y  weights 
were  placed,  and  thus  they  were  marched  about  for 
hours  together  till  they  were  completely  exhausted, 
exposed  meanwhile  to  the  scoffs  and  jeers  of  the  sol- 
diers and  rabble.  '■  I  suppose,'  said  one  derisively, 
*  you  call  that  bearing  the  cross  of  Christ  ? '  The 
court-martial  now  sentenced  them  to  six  months'  im- 
prisonment with  hard  labour  and  in  chains,  during 
which  their  continued  refusal  to  do  military  work 
exposed  them  to  fresh  tortures.  On  three  separate 
occasions  each  of  the  brothers  was  tied  up  by  his 
thumbs  with  his  toes  barely  touching  the  ground, 
and  was  kept  in  this  excruciating  position  for  two 
hours.  Another  time  the  officer,  in  a  rage,  bade  the 
soldiers  run  their  bayonets  into  them  four  inches 
deep,  and  although  this  order  was  not  literally 
carried  out  Jesse  Hockett  was  severely  wounded. 
Towards  the  close  of  the  year  a  Friend  paid  the  ex- 
emption money  for  them,  and  they  were  released. 
During  their  absence  their  wives  had  been  obliged 
to  work  on  the  farms  to  raise  food  for  the  coming 
winter,  a  hardship  which  left  one  of  them  in  greatly 
enfeebled  health. 

I  often  met  both  William  and  Himilius  Hockett, 
and  have  received  directly  from  themselves  almost 
all  the  particulars  I  have  given.  No  bitter  expres- 
sion once  escaped  them  as  they  told  their  story,  but 
their  eyes  filled  with  tears  while  they  bore  testimony 
to  the  Lord's  goodness  in  sustaining  them  through 
all  their  trials  and  keeping  them  in  faithfulness. 
All  fear  of  man  was  taken  away,  they  said,  when 


148  Memories  of  Stanley  Pumphrey. 

they  were  brought  before  the  officers ;  and  they 
often  had  cause  to  remember  the  promise,  *  It  shall 
be  given  you  in  that  same  hour  what  ye  ought  to 
speak.'  The  more  trying  their  circumstances,  the 
more  richly  was  grace  supplied,  and  the  words  were 
in  their  minds  continually,  *  I  will  never  leave  thee 
nor  forsake  thee.' 

At  the  same  time  that  William  Hockett  was  re- 
leased from  Fort  Delaware,  four  other  Friends, 
Thomas  and  Jacob  Hinshaw,  and  Cyrus  and  Nathan 
Barker  were  set  at  liberty.  They  were  kept  with 
the  army  nine  months,  but  appear  to  have  been 
treated  with  as  little  severity  as  could  be  expected. 
Their  refusal  to  wait  on  the  sick,  or  cook,  no  doubt 
seemed  to  the  officers  stubborn  and  unreasonable, 
though  the  Friends  were  careful  to  explain  that  their 
objection  was  not  to  the  work  itself,  but  to  doing  it 
as  military  service.  For  declining  to  help  load  fod- 
der they  were  once  fastened  together,  tied  behind  a 
cart,  and  dragged  three  or  four  miles  through  mud 
and  water,  the  orders  being  that  if  they  still  refused 
they  should  be  thrown  into  the  river  ;  the  commander 
saying  what,  no  doubt,  was  abundantly  true,  that 
such  men  were  '  of  no  manner  of  use  in  the  army.* 
The  last  part  of  the  punishment  does  not  appear  to 
have  been  executed,  and  the  Friends  escaped  as  has 
been  said. 

It  is  animating  to  find  that  the  martyr  spirit  of  our- 
early  days  lives  with  us  still,  and  only  needs  the  oc- 
casion to  draw  it  out. 

'Among  all  those  who  steadily  refused  to  bear 
arms,  and  of  whom  many  were  imprisoned,  not  one 


Illustrations  of  Peace  Principles,  149 

suffered  a  violent  death ; '  which,  as  the  North 
Carolina  Yearly  Meeting  appropriately  says,  '  must 
surely  be  traced  to  the  overruling  providence  of 
Him  by  whom  the  very  hairs  of  our  head  are  num- 
bered.' 

Referring  to  the  position  of  affairs  in  the  early 
part  of  1865,  when  North  Carolina  had  become  one 
of  the  principal  seats  of  hostilities,  the  Yearly  Meet- 
ing says  : — *  Meanwhile  the  Friends  living  in  the 
counties  of  Alamance,  Chatham,  Randolph,  and 
Guilford,  and  comprising  by  far  the  largest  portion 
of  those  in  the  State,  were  placed  in  most  imminent 
peril.  After  the  fall  of  Richmond  and  the  surrender 
of  Genial  Lee,  the  army  of  General  Johnson  was 
still  near  Greensborough,  while  the  army  of  General 
Sherman  moved  on  from  Goldsborough  to  the  other 
side  of  Raleigh,  and,  with  a  day  or  two's  march  be- 
tween, demanded  the  surrender  of  the  Confederate 
forces.  While  awaiting  the  answer.  President  Lincoln 
was  assassinated.  Roused  by  this  to  a  still  more  de- 
termined spirit,  the  army  of  Sherman  seemed  pre- 
pared for  the  most  utter  devastation.  Between  the 
two  opposing  forces,  and  indeed  partially  surrounded 
by  them,  lay  our  peaceful  homes,  with  an  apparently 
almost  certain  destruction  hanging  over  them.  We 
had  neither  weapon  nor  shield,  save  our  prayers  and 
our  trust  in  the  arm  of  the  Lord.  But  these  were 
all  we  needed.  The  threatening  cloud  of  battle 
rolled  away,  and  the  surrender  of  the  last  of  the 
Southern  armies  was  effected,  without  bloodshed,  in 
our  very  midst.  Through  four  years  of  danger  and 
distress  on  every  hand,  the  Lord  had  been  increasing 


150  Memories  of  Stanley  Piimphrey. 

the  faith  of  His  people,  and  now  they  were  left  to 
rejoice  in  safety  over  their  last  crowning  and  signal 
deliverance.' 

The  number  of  lives  sacrificed  during  the  four 
years  of  the  war  is  estimated  at  800,000,  and  is  some- 
times put  much  higher.*  It  is  inexpressibly  sadden- 
ing to  wander  through  the  large  cemeteries,  like  the 
one  I  visited  at  Knoxville,  with  3000  or  4000  uniform 
graves,  all  bearing  the  date  of  the  same  sad  years. 
These  military  cemeteries,  of  which  there  are  alto- 
gether a  large  number,  are  always  nicely  kept.  A 
neat  stone  at  the  head  of  each  grave  gives  the  name, 
age,  and  State  of  the  poor  fellow  who  lies  beneath. 
Very  many,  however,  are  nameless,  and  how  suggest- 
ive of  agonising  suspense  are  these  nameless  graves, 
for  no  tidings  of  the  occupants  could  ever  have 
reached  their  friends. 

The  sacrifice  of  property  was  fully  in  proportion  to 
the  sacrifice  of  life.  The  cost  to  the  Treasury  of  the 
Northern  Government  was  ^^  1,000, 000, 000,  and  the 
Southerners  have  reckoned  theirs  at  nearly  as  much.f 
And  these  sums,  inconceivably  enormous  as  they  are, 
take  no  account  of  the  wide  tracts  of  country  that 
were  laid  waste,  the  harvests  that  were  destroyed,  the 

*  Edward  Taylor,  in  his  '*  Brief  History  of  the  American  People," 
estimates  that  700,000  men  were  either  killed  in  battle  or  maimed 
and  disabled  for  life,  or  died  from  disease,  on  the  Northern  side 
alone, 

f  On  June  loth,  1880,  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  presented  to 
the  Senate  a  statement  of  the  expenses  growing  out  of  the  war  from 
July  ist,  1 861,  to  June  30th,  1879,  and  gave  the  amount  as  6,796,- 
792,508  dols.,  or  ;^ 1, 359, 358, 500.  The  cost  to  the  South  will  never 
be  accurately  ascertained. 


Illustrations  of  Peace  Principles.  151 

barns  and  homesteads,  the  villages  and  towns,  that 
were  given  to  the  flames.  General  Sherman,  when 
during  his  march  through  Georgia  he  was  remon- 
strated with  for  turning  out  so  many  women  and 
children,  homeless  and  helpless,  by  what  seemed  the 
wanton  destruction  of  their  homes,  replied,  *  War  is 
cruel,  and  you  cannot  refine  it' 

The  beautiful  valley  of  East  Tennessee  for  about 
150  miles  west  of  Chattanooga  was  for  many  months 
the  scene  of  almost  continual  fighting.  The  hostile 
armies  drove  each  other  to  and  fro,  and  burnt  and 
plundered  the  country  till  there  was  not  a  rail  of 
fence  left,  and  hardly  a  house  that  had  not  been 
ransacked.  The  memories  of  the  war  so  fill  the 
thoughts  of  the  people  that  it  has  become  the  era 
from  which  they  habitually  reckon.  An  event  is 
seldom  spoken  of  as  happening  so  many  years  ago  ; 
it  was  so  many  years  before,  or  so  many  since  the 
war. 

Many  were  the  tales  of  sorrow  and  suffering  that 
we  heard  from  the  Friends  of  the  district. 

'The  soldiers  would  be  continually  coming  to  us,' 
said  Abner  Ellis,  of  New  Hope,  '  to  make  us  give  up 
our  stores  of  food.  While  we  had  any  we  were  will- 
ing to  share  it  with  them  ,  for  we  remembered  it  is 
written  :  ''  If  thine  enemy  hunger  feed  him."  But 
the  men  were  very  rude,  and  it  was  hard  when  they 
tried  to  take  everything  from  us.  We  had  to  hide 
away  our  stores,  or  we  should  have  had  nothing  for 
the  winter.  In  that  matter  the  Lord  helped  us  re- 
markably. One  day  John  Beales  was  poking  about 
at  the  bottom  of  the  orchard  when  he  came  upon  a 


152  Memories  of  Stanley  PuinpJirey. 

cave  that  none  of  us  had  ever  known  about  before. 
The  vines  were  hanging  over  the  mouth  of  it,  so  that 
it  was  quite  hidden.  There  was  a  little  narrow  pas- 
sage just  wide  enough  to  creep  along,  and  at  the  end 
a  steep  place  to  scramble  down  ,  and  then  it  opened 
out  into  a  fine  large  chamber,  and  what  was  wonder- 
ful, there  was  a  little  spring  in  it  of  pure  fresh  w^ater,' 
and  the  air  was  remarkably  dry  for  such  a  place.  We 
put  our  provisions  there,  and  often  we  wxre  glad  to 
hide  away  ourselves.  Some  of  our  Friends  were  con- 
scripted and  had  not  paid  the  fine,  and  if  they  had 
caught  them  they  might  have  killed  them.  I  have 
known  twelve  or  fourteen  of  us  to  be  hidden  down 
there  at  once.  Of  course  we  could  not  light  a  fire, 
for  the  smoke  w^ould  have  betrayed  us,  but  w^e  took 
a  number  of  blankets  down,  and  made  a  rough  bed- 
stead in  one  of  the  recesses  of  the  cave,  and  when 
we  were  cold  went  to  bed.  Sometimes  we  had  to 
stop  there  for  days,  till  the  women  came  and  told  us 
that  the  soldiers  were  gone.  We  ought  to  call  it 
"  Providence  Cave,"  it  was  such  a  good  refuge  for 
us,  and  I  do  think  it  was  the  Lord  who  guided  John 
Beales  to  it  just  w^hen  it  was  needed.  I  have  not 
been  down  there  since  the  war,  but  I  would  take 
thee  if  thou  would  like  to  go.' 

So  the  pine-wood  torches  w^ere  prepared  and 
lighted,  and  we  had  all  the  details  rehearsed  again 
upon  the  spot.  '  There  we  fixed  the  bedstead,  here 
we  put  the  bucket  to  catch  the  water  from  the  little 
spring.'  The  health  of  this  good  Friend,  like  that 
of  many  others,  had  never  recovered  from  the  hard- 
ships of  those  years  of  misery. 


Illustrations  of  Peace  Principles,  153 

The  search  for  conscripts  and  for  runaway  soldiers 
was  carried  out  with  great  vigilance,  and  the  usual 
punishment  on  their  being  found  was  death.  A 
party  of  thirty  were  trying  to  get  away  from  Caro- 
lina ;  the  noise  they  made  among  the  reeds  *  on  the 
banks  of  the  Chowan  river  roused  the  watch,  and 
while  they  were  swimming  across  they  were  fired  at, 
and  only  four  escaped.  '  I  had  been  asked  to  join 
that  party,'  said  the  man  who  told  me,  '  but  I  thought 
it  safer  to  go  with  a  smaller  company.' 

One  of  the  newly-convinced  members  in  Ten- 
nessee, who  was  my  guide  to  a  remote  meeting, 
showed  me  the  den  where  he  hid  for  eight  months. 
He  dug  a  large  hole  in  the  woods,  carefully  carrying 
the  earth  away  to  a  pond  near  by,  and  then,  covering 
it  up  with  planks  and  strewing  plenty  of  earth  and 
dead  leaves  over  it,  he  left  an  opening  just  large 
enough  to  creep  in.  There  he  would  be  all  day  ;  at 
night  he  came  out  for  water  and  exercise,  and  for  the 
food  left  for  him  in  an  agreed  place.  His  father  had 
already  been  taken  prisoner,  and  lay  half-starved  till 
he  died,  in  one  of  those  frightful  and  most  fatal 
prisons  which  were  the  reproach  of  the  Confederate 
Government  and  the  terror  of  the  Northern  troops. 
His  mother  was  left  with  thirteen  children,  the  oldest 
nineteen,  the  youngest  only  a  year  and  a  half.  The 
girls  had  to  plough  and  do  all  the  field  work,  and 
the  scanty  crop  of  Indian  corn  they  succeeded  in 
raising  furnished  almost  their  whole  supply  of  food. 

*  They  were  cutting  down  bundles  of  reeds  to  swim  with,  fearing 
the  distance  was  too  far  for  them. 
7* 


154  Memories  of  Stanley  Piimphrey, 

But  if  the  sufferings  of  the  people  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  the  battle-fields  were  thus  great,  the 
moral  injury  to  those  who  inflicted  the  suffering  was 
still  greater.  A  chaplain  in  the  *  Army  of  Ohio' 
writes,  in  a  letter  which  appeared  in  the  New  York 
Independent^  November  6th,  1862,  *  Cursing  and  ob- 
scenity, together  with  stealing,  are  the  order  of  the 
day,  and  the  general  feeling  is  that  piety  is  out  of 
the  question  in  the  army.'  Another  chaplain  in  a 
letter  to  the  New  York  Observer^  writes,  August  21st, 
1863  :— 

^  I  am  painfully  convinced  that,  notwithstanding 
all  that  has  been  done  and  is  doing,  the  tendency  of 
our  men  is  rapidly,  fearfully  downward.  With  some 
exceptions  in  regiments  where  a  chaplain  of  right 
character  has  been  permitted  to  labour,  vice,  in  its 
most  flagrant  and  odious  forms,  riots  unrestrained. 
Such  blatant  and  incessant  profanity  as  I  heard  in 
travelling  from  Louisville,  Kentucky,  to  Winches- 
ter, Tennessee — some  750  miles — I  had  never  before 
supposed  possible  ;  intemperance  prevails  and  vice 
shows  itself  shamelessly.  The  causes  of  this  deterior- 
ation are  patent.  War  is  essentially  and  almost 
necessarily  a  demoraliser,  from  the  absence  of  all  re- 
straint exercised  by  the  presence  of  mothers,  wives, 
and  prattling  children  ;  from  the  destitution  of 
strong  religious  agencies  in  the  army,  such  as  the 
Church  throws  about  men  at  home,  and  from  the 
new  and  violent  temptations  to  which  a  soldier  is  ex- 
posed— temptations  that  never  reach  him  till  he  is 
thrown  into  an  enemy's  country,  and  against  which 
few  are  able  resolutely  to  contend.' 


Illustrations  of  Peace  Principles.  155 

Of  course  the  effect  of  this  state  of  things  lasts 
after  the  war  is  over,  and  probably  no  result  of  the 
American  conflict  was  so  disastrous  as  the  national 
demoralisation  consequent  upon  it.  Good  men  con- 
stantly deplored  this  in  our  hearing,  and  attributed 
to  the  war  the  lower  tone  of  sentiment  and  morality 
which  they  regarded  as  prevailing.  The  very  gener- 
al practice  of  carrying  weapons,  with  the  consequent 
frequency  of  acts  of  violence,  and  the  lower  regard 
for  the  sanctity  of  human  life,  are  directly  traceable 
to  the  influence  of  the  war. 

The  more  we  look  into  the  actual  details  of  war, 
the  more  we  shall  be  convinced  that  it  is  the  sum  of 
all  villainies.  Be  it  ours  to  do  what  we  can  to  ex- 
pose the  hollowness  of  all  its  glory,  to  get  men  to  see 
it  in  its  true  colours,  that  they  may  awake  to  the 
truth  that  there  is  absolutely  nothing  in  common  be- 
tween war  and  Christ. 


CHAPTER  XL 

TENNESSEE. 

**  We  must  now  cross  the  mountains  into  Tennessee, 
and  if  we  do  as  the  natives  do,  and  go  in  wagons 
over  the  mountain  roads,  the  journey  will  occupy 
eleven  days.  It  is  thus  that  Dr.  Garner  and  his  com- 
panions come  to  Yearly  Meeting,  and  it  is  thus  that 
Carolina  Friends  went  to  attend  the  Yearly  Meeting 
at  Friendsville,  for  the  long  and  costly  railway  jour- 
ney is  beyond  their  means.  At  the  close  of  the  war, 
the  Society  of  Friends  was  almost  extinguished  in 
Tennessee,  but  it  has  been  greatly  built  up  through 
the  labours  of  several  earnest  workers. 

The  valley  of  East  Tennessee  possesses  natural  ad- 
vantages which  should  render  it  one  of  the  most  at- 
tractive portions  of  the  United  States.  It  comprises 
a  district  about  two  hundred  miles  in  length,  and  one 
hundred  miles  in  width,  lying  between  the  Alleghany 
and  Cumberland  Mountains,  and  watered  by  the  fine 
streams  that  form  the  Tennessee  river.  The  soil  is 
naturally  fertile,  and  the  climate  hardly  to  be  sur- 
passed. The  winters  are  short,  and  the  cold  spells 
not  often  either  severe  or  of  long  duration.  The 
heat  of  summer  is  moderated  by  the  breezes  from 
the  mountains.  Many  invalids  whose  health  has 
broken  down  under  the  extremes  of  other  climates 
have  here  had  health  and  strength  restored.     The 


TetiJiessee.  157 

lovers  of  nature  may  find  in  the  beauty  and  the  vari- 
ety of  the  scenery  a  perpetual  feast.  From  the  sum- 
mits of  the  mountains,  tlie  highest  east  of  the  Missis- 
sippi, views  of  rare  extent  and  grandeur  are  obtained. 
In  this  southern  clime,  trees  of  almost  every  variety 
clothe  the  hills  from  base  to  crest ;  and  when  the 
oaks  and  chestnuts,  poplars,  beecli  and  birch  have 
cast  their  leaves,  the  forests  of  pine  and  cedar  are 
still  green.  The  valleys  disclose  softer  beauties,  and 
bowers  of  kalmias  and  azaleas  shade  the  streams. 
The  flora  is  the  richest  in  the  States.  The  hills  are 
stored  with  mineral  treasure,  and  iron  and  copper, 
marble  and  slate  abound. 

With  all  these  advantages.  East  Tennessee  is  unde- 
veloped. Slavery  blighted  the  natural  and  moral 
fields  alike.  The  soil  has  been  exhausted  by  a  waste- 
ful plan  of  farming,  till  land  that  ought  to  produce 
a  hundred  bushels  to  the  acre  yields  but  twenty. 
Many  of  the  people  are  too  well  content  to  live  as 
their  fathers,  have  little  ambition  to  improve,  and 
seem  indifferent. to  anything  beyond  the  bare  neces- 
saries of  life.  The  state  of  education,  though  higher 
in  Tennessee  than  some  parts  of  the  South,  is  very 
low  ;  364,697  persons  over  ten  years  of  age,  or  forty- 
one  per  cent,  of  the  population,  were  reported  at  the 
last  census  as  unable  to  read  or  write.  In  many  dis- 
tricts illicit  distilleries  are  more  plentiful  than  either 
schoolhouses  or  chapels,  and  little  or  no  provision  is 
made  for  public  w^orship.  Thus,  whether  for  the 
agricultural,  moral,  educational,  or  religious  reformer, 
there  is  ample  scope  for  work. 

In  this  district,  the  Society  of  Friends  has  had  a 


158  Memories  of  Stanley  Piunphrey. 

footing  for  about  eighty  years.  A  meeting  was  first 
established  quite  in  the  east  of  the  State,  at  New 
Hope,  then  at  Lost  Creek,  sixty  miles  further  west, 
and  at  Friendsville,  fifty  miles  west  again.  Smaller 
meetings  were  set  up  near  these  centres,  which  formed 
together  a  Quarterly  Meeting  of  considerable  size. 
The  same  causes  that  diminished  the  Carolina  meet- 
ings operated  here.  To  escape  the  influence  of  slav- 
er}^, numbers  of  the  more  energetic  young  men  emi- 
grated to  the  west,  so  that  even  before  i860  the 
meetings  were  much  reduced.  Then  came  the  war, 
to  the  ravages  of  which  East  Tennessee  was  terribly 
exposed.  The  contending  armies  swept  backwards 
and  forwards,  desolating  the  country  till  hardly  a 
rail  of  fence  was  left.  Of  the  little  community  of 
Friends,  all  who  could  get  away  did  so  ;  and  the  rest, 
to  escape  conscription,  were  obliged  literally  to  hide 
away  in  the  woods  and  mountains,  and  in  dens  and 
caves  of  the  earth.  Lost  Creek  and  Hickory  Valley 
meetings  were  laid  down,  and  at  New  Hope  and 
Friendsville  the  attendance  might  often  be  counted 
by  units.  With  the  restoration  of  peace  the  meet- 
ings revived,  and,  as  in  Carolina,  a  considerable  dis- 
position manifested  itself  among  the  people  to  unite 
with  Friends.  Jeremiah  A.  Grinnell,  Rachel  Bin- 
ford,  and  other  Friends  from  the  w^est,  felt  drawn  to 
settle  among  them,  and  their  labours  were  blessed. 
A  new  meeting  was  set  up  at  Maryville,  and  Lost 
Creek  and  Hickory  Valley  were  commenced  anew. 
The  last-named  settlement  became  a  Monthly  Meet- 
ing, and,  together  with  Friendsville,  constituted  a 
new  Quarter  ;  Maryville  Monthly  Meeting,  though 


Tennessee.  159 

much  nearer  Friendsville,  being  joined  to  Lost 
Creek.  Good  new  Meeting  Houses  have  been  built 
in  several  places,  and  about  eight  hundred  individ- 
uals have  been  received  into  membership. 

After  the  war  the  condition  of  the  f reedmen  claimed 
the  earnest  sympathy  of  Friends.  Many  schools 
were  established  in  Tennessee,  and  Yardley  Warner, 
with  the  aid  of  funds  contributed  in  England  and 
elsewhere,  built  a  normal  school  at  Maryville  for  the 
coloured  people.  The  charge  of  this  institution  has 
been  accepted  by  New  England  Yearly  Meeting. 
The  opportunity  furnished  for  practical  as  well  as 
theoretical  instruction  in  methods  of  teaching  is  a 
great  advantage. 

Dr.  J.  D.  Garner  found  among  the  valleys  of  the 
Smoky  Mountains  a  considerable  population  of  very 
poor  people,  whose  religious  and  educational  oppor- 
tunities were  very  small  indeed.  For  several  years 
he  has  devoted  himself  to  the  work  of  their  elevation. 
School-houses  have  been  built,  the  people  supplying 
the  timber  and  putting  them  up  under  his  direction 
and  with  his  manual  help  ;  and  thousands  have  been 
taught  to  read. 

A  normal  school  is  carried  on  in  the  Meeting 
House  at  Maryville.  For  this,  young  people  of  pro- 
mise are  selected,  and  after  receiving  training  are 
sent  back  to  teach  and  elevate  the  inhabitants  of 
their  native  valleys. 

The  schools  with  which  Dr.  Garner  has  been  con- 
nected are  partly  supported  by  the  public  funds,  and 
partly  by  Indiana  Yearly  Meeting,  and  the  voluntary 
contributions  of  interested  friends. 


l6o  Memories  of  Stanley  Pumphrey. 

Occasionally  Dr.  Garner  takes  a  tour  among  the 
mountains.  The  journey  is  toilsome,  for  the  roads 
can  only  be  travelled  on  foot  or  horseback,  and  are 
often  extremely  rough  and  steep.  The  accommoda- 
tion, even  in  the  best  houses,  possesses  few  of  the 
comforts  of  civilized  life.  Often  a  room  in  a  log 
cabin,  without  windows,  is  shared  with  the  whole 
family,  and  the  meal  consists  of  nothing  but  corn- 
bread  and  milk.  There  is  rarely  any  chance  either 
to  hear  from  or  communicate  w^ith  home  during  the 
whole  journey.  Meetings  are  held  at  the  various 
places  on  the  route,  and  earnest  endeavours  are  used 
to  raise  the  people  socially,  morally,  and  religiously. 
At  Hopewell  Springs,  where  some  of  the  most  effec- 
tive work  has  been  done,  a  good  frame-house  is  built, 
and  meetings  are  now  kept  up  every  First-day.  At 
three  or  four  other  points  they  are  held  once  a 
month,  some  one  qualified  to  instruct  the  people  ar- 
ranging to  be  present  every  time.  As  the  result  of 
these  labours,  a  large  number  have  given  evidence 
of  change  of  heart,  and  some  very  striking  instances 
have  occurred  among  the  very  aged  and  the  most  de- 
praved. A  considerable  number  have  been  received 
into  membership  with  Friends.  Thus  a  large 
amount  of  philanthropic  and  religious  w^ork  is  in 
successful  operation  among  Friends  in  Tennessee. 
The  workers  are,  many  of  them,  capable  of  com- 
manding fair  incomes  in  their  native  States  as 
teachers  and  otherwise.  They  have  made  sacrifices, 
of  which  the  pecuniary  ones  are  perhaps  the  least, 
for  the  sake  of  helping  the  poor  and  ignorant,  and 
building  up  churches  where  there  were  none  before. 


Tennessee.  i6i 

The  situation  of  Maryvilie,  the  small  town  where 
Dr.  Garner  lives,  is  beautiful,  lying  between  the  Al- 
leghany and  the  Cumberland  mountains.  The  Alle- 
ghanies  here  cover  an  immense  tract  of  country,  over 
loo  miles  wide,  and  the  highest  summits  are  nearly 
7000  feet.  We  started  to  visit  some  of  the  hill  sta- 
tions, having  two  horses  between  three  of  us.  My 
nag  was  a  quiet  and  excellent  one,  named  Selim,* 
and  I  became  quite  attached  to  him.  Starting  from 
Maryvilie,  it  was  evening  before  we  reached  our  des- 
tination among  the  mountains.  The  house  was  a 
log  cabin  with  no  windows,  and  two  bedsteads  con- 
stituted the  principalfurniture.  Charles  Taylor  and 
I  occupied  one  of  them,  and  Dr.  Garner  and  our 
host  the  other.  The  wife  and  daughters  made  them- 
selves a  bed  in  the  loft,  which  was  reached  by  a  lad- 
der. Our  host  stood  six  feet  two  inches,  with  a 
muscular  frame,  and  had  evidently  been  a  powerful 
man.  He  served  through  the  whole  of  the  war,  on 
the  Northern  side,  and  hated  the  rebels  with  a  per- 
fect hatred.  He  went  into  wickedness  as  deep  as  a 
man  could,  and  was  fearfully  profane  ;  but  Dr.  Gar- 
ner had  laboured  with  him  patiently,  persuaded  him 
to  give  up  whiskey  drinking,  and  at  last  obtained  his 
promise  to  come  to  some  meetings.  He  was  in  a 
pitiable  state  of  mind,  and  begged  Dr.  Garner  to  do 
his  best  to  get  his  children  to  be  Christians,  but  as 
for  himself  it  was  too  late.  He  was  pointed  to  the 
*  blood  of  sprinkling,'  and  the  efficacy  of  Christ  to 

*  Selim  was  Dr.  Garner's  own  horse,  which  he  used  to  ride  in  his 
journeys  in  the  mountains.  He  would  take  care  of  his  master  at 
night  like  a  dog,  and  wake  him  if  any  danger  were  near. 


1 62  Memories  of  Stanley  Pumphrey. 

atone  for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world,  and  that  He  is 
able  to  save  to  the  uttermost.  Evidently  there  was 
something  hindering  him  ;  what  was  it  ?  *  Those 
rebels,'  he  said,  *I  can  never  forgive  them — never.' 
Martha  Jay  laboured  with  him  earnestly,  and  at  last 
the  grace  of  the  Lord  triumphed.  He  completely 
broke  down,  forgave  all,  and  was  himself  forgiven. 
Since  then  he  has  led  a  consistent  life.  His  health 
is  now  broken,  but  he  looks  forward  trustfully,  as- 
sured that  he  will  be  cared  for.  *  There  is  one  Friend 
who  will  never  desert  me,'  he  said.  'Who  is  that  ?  * 
I  asked  ;  and  he  replied,  '  The  Lord.'  " 

Stanley  Pumphrey  paid  very  many  visits  among 
these  mountain  valleys,  enduring  many  privations, 
and  yet  intensely  interested  in  the  work  that  was 
going  on. 

One  of  the  results  of  these  lengthened  visits  to 
Carolina  and  Tennessee  was  the  appeal  made  to 
Friends  in  England  to  assist  in  the  erection  of  suit- 
able Meeting  Houses.  In  this  appeal  he  says  : — "  In 
the  course  of  my  journey  in  America  I  was  often 
grieved  at  the  condition  of  the  Meeting  Houses  of 
Friends,  especially  in  the  southern  and  frontier 
States.  Many  are  deplorably  out  of  repair  ;  and  in 
not  a  few  cases  where  there  is  quite  a  community  of 
our  people  they  have  no  house  of  their  own.  On 
making  careful  enquiry  as  to  the  Meeting  Houses  in 
North  Carolina  Yearly  Meeting,  I  ascertained  that 
there  were  twelve  places  where  new  Houses  are  much 
needed  ;  and  that  in  four  others,  where  Houses  have 
been  commenced,  the  necessary  funds  to  complete 
them  have  not  been  raised.     In  the  Southern  Quar- 


Ten7iessee.  163 

terly  Meeting,  where  there  are  ten  meetings,  Friends 
own  but  two  Houses  that  are  in  creditable  condition; 
and  in  another  Monthly  Meeting  the  three  Houses 
are  all  quite  discreditable.* 

*'  Let  it  not  be  thought  that  American  Friends  are 
unmindful  of  their  duty.  They  have  done  a  great 
deal ;  but  they  have  claims  upon  them  in  this  direc- 
tion to  which  we  in  England  have  no  parallel.  Since 
1850,  thirty-one  Quarterly  Meetings,  and  about  two 
hundred  particular  meetings,  have  been  established 
west  of  the  Alleghanies  ;  and  as  the  Quarterly  Meet- 
ing Houses  would  seldom  be  adequate  if  they  would 
not  seat  four  hundred  persons,  and  the  other  Meet- 
ing Houses  require  an  average  capacity  for  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty,  it  will  be  see  that  new  Meeting 
Houses  are  a  serious  tax  to  our  brethren  across  the 
water,  and  one  that  falls  the  most  heavily  on  new 
settlers,  who  seldom  have  much  money  at  command. 
The  sacrifices  made  are  often  great.  I  know  an 
aged  Friend  in  North  Carolina,  whose  estate  was  es- 
timated at  only  ^120,  who  gave  ;^2o,  or  a  sixth  of 
his  whole  property,  towards  the  new  Meeting  House 
that  was  required.  North  Carolina  Yearly  Meeting 
has  built  sixteen  new  Meeting  Houses  since  the  war, 
an  average  of  one  a  year.  In  one  instance,  Friends 
having  no  money  sowed  thirty  acres  of  wheat,  which 
was  consecrated  to  the  Lord,  and  they  prayed  for 
His  blessing  on  the  crop  so  that  enough  might  be 
realized  to  provide  them  a  House  to  worship  in.     In 

*  In  Kansas  the  need  is  as  great  or  greater.  Friends  there,  at 
the  time  of  Stanley  Pumphrey's  visit,  were  holding  their  meetings 
in  some  cases  in  *'  dug-outs  "  or  earth  caves. 


l64  Me^nories  of  Sta7iley  Pumphrey. 

another  place  the  Meeting  House  for  the  coloured 
Friends  was  shattered  by  a  tornado,  and  the  poor 
people  were  unable  to  replace  it  without  help.  Wood 
is  cheap.  Friends  readily  give  much  manual  labour; 
and  great  simplicity  characterizes  all  the  arrange- 
ments of  the  community.""^ 

*  In  response  to  this  appeal  £\o\<^  was  collected  among  Friends 
in  England  and  Ireland  to  be  administered  through  the  Baltimore 
Association,  three-fourths  of  the  cost  of  the  Meeting  House  in  each 
case  to  be  provided  by  American  Friends.  The  fund  has  already 
proved  very  useful  in  four  or  five  different  States,  and  remains  under 
the  care  of  Isaac  Robson,  J.  B.  Braithwaithe,  Thomas  Harvey,  and 
James  Hack  Tuke,  on  behalf  of  London  Yearly  Meeting. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

HAMPTON. 

Another  visit  that  greatly  impressed  Stanley  Pum- 
phrey  was  to  Hampton  in  Virginia, the  home  of  George 
and  Eunice  Dixon,  who  occupied  a  wing  of  the  large 
wooden  building  put  up  by  General  Butler  as  a  school 
for  the  "  contrabands  "  when  they  flocked  to  Hamp- 
ton in  such  numbers  during  the  war.  George  Dixon 
is  a  botanist  and  naturalist  as  well  as  a  philanthropist, 
and  there  is  much  to  remind  you  of  this  in  the  re- 
fined taste  which  give  his  rooms  an  air  of  brightness 
and  comfort. 

''After  breakfast  we  went  with  Eunice  Dixon  to 
see  the  school  for  coloured  children  under  her  care. 
It  is  held  in  the  same  building  in  which  they  live. 
*  Five  years  ago,'  said  Mrs.  General  Marshall,  '  be- 
fore Mrs.  Dixon  came,  you  could  have  said  these 
children  were  a  lot  of  young  savages.'  Now  the 
order  may  be  said  to  be  perfect.  The  children  look 
bright  and  happy,  faces  clean,  hair  tidy,  and  clothes 
neat.  Those  who  were  present  varied  in  age  from 
5  to  25.  They  have  coloured  teachers.  Corporal 
punishment  has  never  been  resorted  to.  They  are 
ruled  with  kindness,  yet  with  firmness.  They  have 
simple  worship  at  the  beginning  of  the  school,  and 
during  this  they  learn   texts  in  concert.     They  re- 


1 66  Memories  of  Stanley  Puinphrey. 

peated  for  us  with  great  accuracy,  giving  the  refer- 
ences. It  was  touching  to  hear  them  sing  their  old 
plantation  melodies,  *  Swing  low,  sweet  chariot,'  and 
others.  Many  of  these  'hymns'  are  a  queer  jum- 
ble, the  most  incongruous  thoughts  being  run  to- 
gether— 

You'll  see  de  moon  a  bleedin', 

I  do  love  de  Lord ; 
You'll  see  de  stars  a  fallin', 

I  do  love  de  Lord  ; 
My  bredren  don't  get  weary, 

I'm  hunting  for  a  home. 

Sometimes,  however,  beautiful  thoughts  and  pre- 
cious experiences  are  embodied — 

One  day  when  I  was  walking  along — 

Oh,  yes,  Lord, 
De  element  opened,  and  de  love  came  down — 

Oh,  yes,  Lord, 
I  never  shall  forget  that  day — 

Oh,  yes,  Lord, 
When  Jesus  washed  my  sins  away — 

Oh,  yes.  Lord. 

They  almost  broke  me  down  as  they  sang  very 
plaintively, 

Nobody  knows  de  trouble  I've  seen, 
Nobody  knows  but  Jesus. 

Allen  Jay  and  I  both  spoke  to  them.  The  eldest 
pupils  belong  to  the  Teachers'  Training  College. 
When  they  come  very  ignorant,  as  they  often  do, 


Hampton,  167 

they  are  sent  here  to  get  elementary  instruction.  At 
the  same  time  they  see  here  how  schools,  such  as 
they  are  to  have  charge  of,  ought  to  be  conducted. 

We  afterwards  went  to  the  College.  The  teachers 
are  mostly  ladies  who  are  well  up  to  their  work,  and 
there  is  an  air  of  cheerfulness  and  enjoyment  in  their 
lessons  that  pleased  me  much.  Generals  Armstrong 
and  Marshall,  who  have  oversight  of  the  institution, 
are  two  fine  men.  Virginia  Hall,  where  the  young 
women  lodge,  is  a  noble  building.  The  industrial 
part  of  the  training,  both  of  the  young  men  and 
women,  is  considered  an  important  part,  and  assists 
in  their  maintenance  ;  the  design  of  the  founders 
being,  '  not  only  to  send  out  school-teachers,  but 
farm-teachers,  home-teachers,  and  teachers  of  prac- 
tical Christianity.'  Almost  all  of  those  trained  here 
become  teachers,  and  there  is  a  great  demand  for 
them.  In  one  or  two  places  in  the  South  I  heard 
what  admirable  teachers  they  make.  In  the  after- 
noon the  students,  about  200  in  number,  were  as- 
sembled, that  we  might  address  them.  I  lifted  my 
heart  to  God,  that  I  might  be  helped  to  speak  aright, 
and  realized  the  blessing  of  His  presence. 

George  Dixon  devotes  his  energies  mainly  to  ren- 
dering material  assistance  to  the  coloured  people. 
Many  are  engaged  in  oyster  fishing,  and  George 
Dixon  has  been  the  means  of  helping  them  to  find 
a  market  and  to  get  a  fair  price  for  what  they  catch. 
Their  condition  has  much  improved,  as  it  does  every- 
where where  they  have  a  chance.  '  Not  one  of  them 
is  satisfied  till  he  owns  a  house,  a  plot  of  land,  and  a 
cow.'     Not  even  Warnersville  made  me  so  hopeful 


1 68  Memories  of  Stanley  Pumphrey. 

with  regard  to  the  future  of  the  coloured  people  if 
they  could  only  get  fair  play. 

I  felt  sad  at  parting  with  dear  Allen  Jay,  to  whom 
my  heart  had  become  closely  bound  in  brotherly 
love.  *  We  shall  neither  of  us  ever  forget  these 
weeks  of  associated  service,'  he  said,  and  then  he 
knelt  down  and  prayed  for  me  once  more.  I  had  a 
comfortable  voyage  up  the  Chesapeake  Bay  back  to 
Baltimore." 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

PHILADELPHIA. 

"Philadelphia  is  the  most  compact  Yearly  Meet- 
ing in  the  world.  About  2,000  of  the  members  re- 
side within  the  city  limits,  and  the  remainder,  who 
may  be  about  3,000,  are  scattered  in  about  sixty 
meetings,  very  few  of  which  are  more  than  forty 
miles  from  Philadelphia.  Thus  it  is  very  easy  for 
them  to  attend  their  Yearly  Meeting,  and  nearly 
two-fifths  of  the  whole  membership  is  probably 
sometimes  to  be  found  on  the  Arch  Street  prem- 
ises. 

"  The  appearance  of  the  Yearly  Meeting  is  strik- 
ing. About  half  the  Friends  on  the  women's  side 
are  attired  in  those  sober-tinted  gowns,  and  shawls, 
and  bonnets,  with  which  we  were  familiar  in  years 
gone  by ;  and  the  appearance  of  the  men's  meeting 
corresponds. 

"My  principal  home  while  in  America  was  in 
Philadelphia.  It  was  to  us  a  haven  of  rest,  and  the 
kindness  shown  by  Mary  R.  Haines  and  her  son  and 
daughter,  was  only  an  illustration  of  that  which  was 
manifested  by  very  many." 

Stanley  Pumphrey  thus  describes  his  first  Sabbath 
in  Philadelphia.  "  I  looked  forward  to  it,"  he  says, 
8 


lyo  Memories  of  Stanley  Pumphrey, 

''with  some  trepidation.  I  went  with  Mary  Haines 
to  Twelfth  Street  Meeting.  It  is  a  meeting  of  600 
members,  and,  with  very  little  exception,  they  are  in 
agreement  with  English  Friends.  Probably  there 
were  350  present  yesterday,  many  more  women  than 
men.  I  offered  prayer,  and  afterwards  spoke  from 
*  Thou  shalt  call  His  name  Jesus,  for  He  shall  save 
His  people  from  their  sins,'  and  '  They  shall  call  His 
name  Emmanuel.'  I  was  thankful  to  be  able  to  bear 
a  clear  testimony  to  Jesus  as  the  Son  of  God  and  the 
Saviour  of  men. 

''A  woman  Friend  afterwards  offered  a  sweet 
thanksgiving,  and  a  touching  prayer  for  me.  Many 
pressed  round  me  at  the  close  of  the  meeting  to  bid 
me  welcome.  The  evening  meeting  was  much 
smaller.  Many  of  the  Friends  live  at  a  considerable 
distance,  and  do  not  find  it  easy  to  come  a  second 
time.  The  meeting  closed  with  a  sweet  feeling 
of  the  presence  of  the  Lord.  I  am  so  thankful, 
and  feel  my  heart  lightened.  '  They  looked  unto 
Him  and  were  lightened,  and  their  faces  were  not 
ashamed.  This  poor  man  cried,  and  the  Lord  heard 
him.' 

''  I  next  went  to  the  North  Meeting.  I  looked  up 
and  asked  the  Lord  to  guide  me  sentence  by  sen- 
tence, and  word  by  word,  and  the  fear  of  man  was 
taken  away  as  I  spoke  to  them  from  the  2nd  of 
Hebrews,  of  Him  who  'by  the  grace  of  God  tasted 
death  for  every  man.'  At  the  close  of  the  meeting 
several  Friends  spoke  to  me  quite  kindly,  and  my 
heart  was  filled  with  praise. 

"  In  the  evening  we  had  the  best  social  gathering 


Philadelphia.  171 

I  have  attended,  nearly  sixty  present  Friends  here 
are  quite  accustomed  to  social  worship  when  minis- 
ters are  present,  and  thus  many  opportunities  are 
afforded  to  preach  the  Word.  I  have  been  very 
warmly  welcomed  on  these  occasions,  and  am  thank- 
ful that  the  door  is  so  much  more  open  than  I  ex- 
pected. Philadelphia  is  much  upon  my  heart,  and 
my  prayer  is  earnest  that  I  may  be  guided  here, 
and  may  have  wisdom  and  grace,  and  be  made  a  bless- 
ing." 

Stanley  afterwards  made  his  way  to  Orange  Street 
Meeting  House.  He  writes  : — '*  I  sat  down  near  the 
end  of  the  gallery.  I  felt  lonely,  but  my  gracious 
Master  drew  near  to  me  and  encompassed  me  with 
His  love,  and  I  poured  out  my  soul  before  Him  with 
many  tears.  I  spoke  briefly  and  guardedly  from 
the  prayer  of  Habakkuk,  '  O  Lord,  revive  thy  work 
in  the  midst  of  the  years,  in  wrath  remember  mer- 
cy.'" 

Amid  cause  for  much  thoughtfulness,  Stanley 
found  in  social  intercourse  much  that  was  heart- 
cheering.  In  visiting  Burlington  he  passed  the  house 
of  Stephen  Grellet,  and  remarks,  **  I  think  his  me- 
moir is  the  best  illustration  of  Quakerism  acted  out 
that  we  have.  I  also  feel  a  sort  of  spiritual  rela- 
tionship with  the  venerable  saint ;  he  was  so  blessed 
to  Benjamin  Seebohm,  and  Benjamin  Seebohm  was 
so  blessed  to  me.  Here  also  is  the  residence  of  Eliza 
P.  Gurney,  the  widow  of  Joseph  John  Gurney.  She 
lives  in  a  pleasant  country  house  two  miles  from 
town.  Several  other  Friends  live  near  her,  and  they 
are  on  such  delightful  terms,  they  have  thrown  down 


172  Memories  of  Stanley  Pumphrey. 


their  fences  so  that  their  grounds  form  a  park.  There 
are  many  fine  trees  ;  and  in  summer  it  is  a  lovely- 
place.  E.  P.  Gurney  is  a  comely  lady,  and  wears 
the  Elizabeth  Fry  costume  with  much  grace.  Her 
face  is  a  very  pleasant  one.  She  at  once  puts  you  at 
home  ;  and  in  conversation  she  has  still,  in  her  sev- 
enty-fifth year,  the  vivacity  of  a  girl.  She  is  very  out- 
spoken ;  and  what  she  says  is  so  interesting.  It  is 
delightful  to  hear  her  talk  of  Joseph  John  Gurney, 
and  of  her  days  at  Earlham.  '  Those  few  years  were 
my  life,'  she  said,  and  it  seemed  pleasant  to  her  to 
recur  to  them.  She  spoke  of  Hannah  C.  Backhouse 
like  a  daughter.  She  talked  of  her  sister  Fry  and 
brother  Buxton  ;  of  Bunsen,  and  the  crowned  heads 
whom  she  had  visited,  of  Stephen  Grellet,  and  Wil- 
liam Forster,  and  a  host  of  Quaker  worthies." 

On  the  i8th  of  Third  Month,  1876,  Stanley  visited 
Germantown,  one  of  the  beautiful  suburbs  of  Phila- 
delphia. Here  he  was  the  guest  of  Beulah  Hacker. 
Her  husband  visited  a  hardened  convict  who  was 
condemned  to  die.  Various  ministers  had  laboured 
with  the  man  and  produced  no  impression.  Friend 
Hacker  came  and  sat  down  by  the  man,  and  taking 
his  hand  said,  "John,  was  it  not  wonderful  love  in 
God  Almighty  to  give  His  own  dear  vSon  to  die  for 
poor  sinners  like  thee  and  me  ? "  Those  words  "  thee 
and  me  "  broke  the  man  down,  and  he  became  a  sin- 
cere penitent. 

**  Germantown  is  one  of  the  largest  meetings  in 
the  Yearly  Meeting,  and  includes  many  rising  fami- 
lies ;  and  they  are  better  off  for  ministers  than  any 
other  meeting  in  Philadelphia.     I  expected  to  have 


3re     ^H 


t: 


Philadelphia.  173 

^  slivered  them  a  comforting  address,  but  when  I  rose 
from  my  knees  after  offering  prayer,  I  could  see  no 
light  on  anything  but  the  words,  '  I  have  somewhat 
against  thee.'  Some  of  them  said  they  had  never 
heard  such  plain  dealing,  and  that  I  had  used  great 
boldness  of  speech,  but  they  received  it  well,  and  I 
hope  the  Lord  will  bless  the  message.  In  the  af- 
ternoon I  went  to  the  Bible  Class  which  '  Frank ' 
used  to  go  to,  whose  lovely  memoir  has  been  pub- 
lished." 

Stanley  Pumphrey  devoted  more  time  and  thought 
to  Philadelphia  than  to  any  other  Yearly  Meeting 
on  the  American  continent,  and  there  w^as  no  Yearly 
Meeting  in  w^hich  he  formed  more  cordial  friend- 
ships. He  visited  every  Quarterly  Meeting  within 
its  compass,  several  of  them  repeatedly.  While  re- 
joicing in  their  philanthropic  efforts  for  the  Freed- 
men,  for  the  Indians,  and  in  the  cause  of  education, 
he  regretted  that  more  was  not  being  practically  ac- 
complished by  such  a  large  and  influential  body  of 
Friends  for  the  spread  of  the  Gospel  of  our  Lord 
and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ.  In  carefully  reviewing  his 
work  there,  he  says  : — ^'  As  regards  Philadelphia,  my 
steps  were  directed  there  again  and  again.  A  large 
part  of  my  luggage  was  never  removed  from  the 
house  of  my  dear  friend  John  B.  Garrett,  who  wdth 
his  wife  and  mother-in-law  invariably  w^elcomed  me 
with  the  truest  kindness.  The  central  position  of 
Philadelphia  made  it  a  convenient  returning  point, 
but  my  principal  reason  for  going  there  so  much  was 
the  clear  pointing  of  duty,  the  strong  conviction 
that  there  w^as  a  place  there  for  me  to  occupy.     I  at- 


174  Memories  of  Stanley  Pumphrey, 

tended  Twelfth  Street  Meeting  far  oftener  than  any 
other,  and  I  always  received  there  the  warmest  of 
welcomes,  and  in  many  other  places  in  and  around 
Philadelphia  the  Friends  were  generally  willing  to 
listen  to  me,  and  I  have  faith  to  believe  the  seed  was 
not  sown  in  vain." 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

NEW  YORK. 

**  I  HAVE  been  occupied  incessantly  with  Yearly- 
Meetings  for  more  than  a  fortnight,"  writes  Stanley 
Pumphrey  on  the  Sixteenth  of  Sixth  Month,  1876. 
"  New  York  Yearly  Meeting  met  this  year  at  Roch- 
ester, a  large  and  well-built  city  of  80,000  inhabi- 
tants. The  two  main  streets  are  fine  broad  streets, 
and  the  suburbs  are  good.  In  some  American  cities 
it  has  become  the  fashion  not  to  fence  the  suburban 
villas  at  all,  but  to  let  the  lawns  lie  open  to  the  main 
road.  This  is  an  improvement  to  the  appearance, 
slightly  at  the  expense  of  privacy.  Friends  of 
Rochester  thought  they  would  like  the  Yearly  Meet- 
ing held  in  the  west  of  the  State  sometimes,  so 
they  built  a  handsome  Meeting  House,  at  a  cost  of 
25,000  dollars.  The  large  room  holds  about  500  peo- 
ple. It  is  quite  in  chapel  style,  has  neat  windows 
with  patterned  glass,  and  a  platform  and  reading- 
desk. 

"  New  York  Yearly  Meeting  has  greatly  changed 
in  its  character  during  the  last  few  years.  They 
were  losing  members  fast  ;  now  their  meetings  are 
being  built  up  again.  Last  year  they  added  about 
170  to  their  membership,  this  year  about  as  many. 
They  have  a  membership  of  3300,  in  nine  Quarterly 


iy6  Memories  of  Stanley  Pumphrey. 

Meetings.*  First-Day  Schools  have  been  established 
in  almost  all  their  meetings,  and  the  number  of 
scholars  is  about  3000,  one-third  of  whom  are  con- 
nected with  Friends.  It  is  largely  through  these 
schools,  and  through  the  holding  of  general  meetings, 
that  accessions  come  to  the  church. 

"  New  York  Yearly  Meeting  goes  further  than  we 
do  in  recognising  the  equal  rights  of  w^omen  with 
men.  Women  are  associated  in  the  Meeting  for 
Sufferings  and  on  all  their  committees." 

Later  on  Stanley  paid  repeated  visits  to  many  of 
the  meetings  in  the  compass  of  New  York  Yearly 
Meeting,  as  well  as  to  the  Mission  Meetings  in  which 
Friends  are  interested.  One  of  these  is  at  Brooklyn, 
in  close  connection  with  Temperance  work,  and  pro- 
ductive of  much  good  ;  another  in  New  York  is  a 
Mission  for  the  coloured  people,  in  which  Friends 
are  very  usefully  engaged.  He  also  attended  several 
meetings  at  Poughkeepsie.  At  the  last  of  these  his 
address  was  on  the  Deity  of  Christ.  "There  are 
eleven  or  twelve  instances  recorded  in  the  New  Tes- 
tament of  worship  being  offered  to  Christ.  There  is 
no  parallel  to  this  in  the  Bible  of  such  spontaneous 
and  adoring  homage  being  rendered.  Indeed,  where 
offered  to  men  or  to  angels  it  is  represented  as  being 
earnestly  refused.  Jesus  accepts  it  as  His  right  with 
a  simplicity  and  naturalness  very  remarkable.  Con- 
trast the  punishment  of  Herod  for  accepting  an  hon- 
our that  belonged  to  God." 

*  They  have  about  70  Ministers,  and  240  Elders,  so  that  one- 
tenth  of  their  members  are  under  these  two  appointments. 


New   York,  177 

"From  Poughkeepsie  to  Smyrna  can  hardly  be 
less  than  two  hundred  miles,  and  nearly  an  equal 
distance  thence  to  Glens  Falls.  It  seemed  a  long 
journey  to  take  for  three  days'  work,  but  I  was  never 
likely  to  have  an  equally  good  opportunity,  and  I 
had  been  urged  not  to  pass  them  by.  I  am  glad  I 
went.  Indications  were  not  wanting  that  it  was  the 
right  thing.  On  the  Nev/  York  Central,  the  great 
four-track  line  that  runs  from  Albany  to  Buffalo, 
they  cany  you  at  two  cents  a  mile,  a  rate  lower  than 
you  meet  with  almost  anywhere.  The  change  of  the 
seasons  is  so  rapid  that  v\^ith  the  mercury  at  90°  I 
saw  the  remains  of  snow  drifts  on  the  hill  sides.  It 
is  a  sudden  leap  from  winter  to  summer,  and  we 
seem  to  have  had  no  spring.  The  Meeting  House  at 
West  Branch  is  a  good  size,  and  here  Le  Ray 
Quarterly  Meeting  used  to  be  held,  and  larger 
crowds  assembled  than  could  be  accommodated." 

Stanley  Pumphrey  spent  some  time  at  Glens  Falls, 
and  paid  a  short  visit  to  Saratoga,  which  is  a  city  of 
hotels.  The  population  is  about  8000,  but  in  the 
season  is  said  to  rise  to  30,000.  One  hotel  has  ac- 
commodation for  1300  visitors,  and  others  are  nearly 
as  large.  The  great  attraction  of  the  place  lies  in  its 
medicinal  spring.  Every  gallon  of  water  at  the 
Congress  Spring  contains  400  grains  of  salt,  121 
grains  of  bicarbonate  of  magnesia,  143  of  bicarbonate 
of  lime,  about  35  grains  of  thirteen  other  chemicals, 
and  is  strongly  impregnated  with  carbonic  acid  gas. 
The  flavour  is  pleasant,  and  the  water  may  be  taken 
freely  with  advantage  to  the  health.  Henry  Lawrence, 
w^ho  drove  Stanley  tlirough  the  city,  is  the  proprietor 


178  Memories  of  Stanley  Puntphrey. 

of  another  spring,  the  Excelsior,  and  his  business  is 
bottling  the  water  and  sending  it  over  the  world. 

Sarah  F.  Smiley,  author  of  Fulness  of  Blessing,  has 
built  herself  a  charming  cottage  close  by  Henry 
Lawrence's  country  house.  "  It  stands  on  a  bank 
looking  over  meadows  to  a  wood.  The  little  garden 
is  well  taken  care  of.  Fountains  are  provided  for 
the  birds,  and  the  little  squirrels  are  made  to  feel  at 
home.  Three  fine  trees,  bearing  the  names  of  the 
patriarchs,  shade  the  dwelling,  and  a  little  distance 
from  them  is  a  fourth  tall  tree  called  Moses.  Here 
Sarah  F.  Smiley  rests  and  studies  during  the  summer 
months.  In  the  winter  she  is  always  out  preaching 
and  teaching." 

Stanley  found  opportunity  in  the  autumn  of  1876 
to  gratify  the  long-cherished  desire  of  seeing  the 
Falls  of  Niagara  ;  and  with  his  intense  love  of  na- 
ture, threw  himself  heartily  into  the  enjoyment,  which 
formed  a  fitting  interlude  amid  the  long  succession 
of  attendance  at  meetings.     He  says  : — 

*'We  reached  the  Falls  Station  at  2  a.m.  But  I 
rose  earlv  to  get  a  short  view  before  breakfast,  for 
the  noise  of  the  rapids  roused  me  so  that  I  could  not 
sleep.  I  took  Goat  Island  to  start  with.  We  crossed 
by  a  good  iron  bridge  the  river  which  forms  the 
American  fall,  and  another  stream  that  forms  the  nar- 
row middle  one,  and  were  then  on  Goat  Island.  This 
island  is  much  larger  than  I  expected,  the  front  be- 
ing as  wide  as  the  American  fall,  and  it  contains 
seventy-five  acres,  covered  with  forest,  which  has 
been  allo./efl  to  retain  its  wildness.  From  Goat 
Island  you  see    the  American  fall  on  tlie  one   side 


New   York.  179 

and  the  Canadian  on  the  other.  The  river  which 
forms  the  American  fall  is  900  feet  wide,  and  is  un- 
equally divided  by  Luna  Island,  to  which  you  cross 
by  a  bridge  of  100  feet.  Walking  through  the  woods 
to  the  opposite  side  of  Goat  Island,  you  come  to  the 
edge  of  the  great  Canadian  fall,  with  its  span  of 
over  2000  feet.  After  breakfast  I  went  to  Prospect 
Park,  where  you  look  on  the  very  edge  of  the 
American  fall,  from  the  parapet  of  a  well-built  wall, 
and  across  the  river  to  the  grand  curve  of  the  Horse- 
shoe. The  grandeur  of  the  scene  grows  upon  you. 
The  river  below  the  falls  narrows  at  once,  and  is 
soon  not  more  than  250  yards  wide.  The  water  is  a 
dull  lead  colour,  and  appears  to  move  sluggishly  as 
you  look  down  on  it  from  a  height  of  200  feet.  A 
streak  of  foam  floats  lazily  with  the  current.  You 
naturally  ask — Can  this  be  the  same  river,  the  over- 
flow of  those  vast  inland  seas,  that  has  just  formed 
that  glorious  breadth  of  cataract  ?  But  in  saying 
this  you  fail  to  take  into  account  the  depth  of  water, 
said  to  be  not  less  than  300  feet,  and  the  swiftness  of 
the  current  that  sweeps  beneath. 

''A  train  at  9.40  took  me  down  to  the  Whirlpool 
Rapids.  On  arrival,  a  descent  of  250  feet,  effected 
by  a  lift,  brings  you  to  the  bed  of  the  river,  here  nar- 
rowed to  300  feet,  and  rushing  impetuously  between 
lofty  cliffs  covered  w^ith  trees  wherever  there  is  lodg- 
ment for  their  roots.  Up  and  down  the  river,  for  per- 
haps half  a  mile  each  way,  the  waters  surge  along. 
Standing  with  a  crowd,  on  a  smooth  deal  platform,  is 
not  the  way  to  enjoy  a  scene  like  this,  so  I  queried, 
*  Is  there  no  path  further  down  ?'  as  I  looked  at  the 


l8o  Meinories  of  Sta^iley  Pumphrey. 

still  more  tumultuous  tossing  billows    just   below. 

*  No,  there  is  no  path,'  was  the  reply,  *  but  you  can 
scramble  down  over  those  rocks  safe  enough.'  Soon 
I  was  shut  out  from  all  my  fellow  tourists,  and  was 
alone  among  the  rocks  by  the  edge  of  the  torrent. 
The  waves  were  tossing  like  the  sea  in  the  wildest 
storm.  But  the  sea  has  its  intervals  of  rest ;  this  wild 
torrent  none.  It  reminded  me  of  the  torrent  of  the 
Ticino  my  father  and  I  saw  together  in  North  Italy, 
but  the  water  was  here  multiplied  a  thousand-fold. 
It  is  time  to  pass  on,  and  I  cross  the  suspension 
bridge.  This  bridge  is  800  feet  long,  and  250  feet 
above  the  river,  and  so  strong  that  the  passing  of 
the  locomotive  does  not  perceptibly  make  it  vibrate. 

*  Am  I  on  British  soil  again  ? '  I  ask,  as  I  give  up  my 
ticket.  'Yes,  Sir.'  '  Hurrah  !  that  is  the  first  time  I 
have  had  that  satisfaction  for  a  year,'  and  I  walk 
along  all  the  more  complacently  because  again  in 
our  good  Queen's  dominions.  It  is  about  two  miles 
to  the  falls,  and  the  banks  are  very  steep.  Every 
now  and  then  you  come  upon  the  slightly  uncom- 
fortable announcement  that  here  so-and-so  fell  over 
at  such  a  time.  But  it  is  one  of  the  enjoyments  of 
Niagara  that  you  never  have  any  sense  of  danger 
while  you  keep  the  paths.  We  again  near  the  cat- 
aract. This  is  the  place  to  see  it.  We  are  right  op- 
posite the  American  fall,  getting  a  full  front  view  as 
the  waters  grandly  sweep  over.  To  the  right  is  the 
far  more  sublime  Canadian  fall,  with  its  majestic 
sweep.  Look  at  the  spray.  It  is  a  dense  cloud, 
blotting  out  a  third  of  the  cataract,  and  rising  up  till 
it  melts  into  the  sky.     In  some  parts,  the  water,  as  it 


New   York.  i8i 

rounds  over  the  edge,  is  twenty  feet  deep.  A  dis- 
carded vessel,  drawing  eighteen  feet  of  water,  was 
once  sent  over,  and  did  not  graze  the  rock.  The 
emerald  colour,  nothing  can  exceed  it,  as  those  deep 
waters  arch  over  the  edge.  There  is  also  the  purity 
of  that  great  robe  of  white,  which  no  painter  can 
adequately  convey.  The  woods  of  Goat  Island, 
stretching  back  half  a  mile,  are  a  great  addition  to 
the  picture.  There  is  also  the  long,  low  line  of  trees 
on  the  Canadian  shore.  I  could  wash  my  hands  in 
the  waters  ere  they  take  the  plunge. 

"  But  I  turn,  for  I  want  to  see  the  fall  from  below. 
Good  steps  and  a  well-trodden  path  lead  down  the 
bank.  Oil-skin  dresses  for  a  dollar,  and  a  guide  into 
the  bargain.  Both  are  needless.  Protected  by  an 
overcoat  and  umbrella,  I  go  beneath  the  fall ;  yes, 
right  behind  the  skirts  of  the  main  fall.  It  is  very 
grand  to  see  how  the  waters  arch  smoothly  overhead, 
and  roar  tumultuously  seventy  feet  below.  Below 
me  is  the  great  mass  of  rock  that  fell  some  years 
ago. 

''  The  boat  is  about  to  cross  the  river,  and  as  we 
are  ferried  over,  we  have  magnificent  views  again. 
One  thought  only  is  appropriate  at  such  an  hour, 
the  one  with  which  Buckingham  concludes  his  poem, 
*  O  Lord,  Creator  of  these  wonders,  how  great  Thou 
art.'  I  rest  w^hile  ascending  with  the  car  on  the 
incline,  and  am  soon  on  the  Sister  Islands.  These 
are  outposts  of  Goat  Island,  and  are  connected 
with  it  by  a  series  of  bridges.  The  finest  view  of  the 
rapids  above  the  fall  is  undoubtedly  here.  How 
gloriously  beautiful,  that   sweep  of  waters  towards 


1 82  Memories  of  Stanley  Pumphrey. 

Goat  Island.  Did  Buckingham  call  Niagara  a  King? 
Say  rather  a  High  Priest,  for  this  must  surely  be  the 
grand  temple  of  the  God  of  nature.  How  unsullied 
the  pure  whiteness  of  his  majestic  robe.  The  spray, 
as  incense,  rises  into  heaven's  blue,  and  mingles  with 
the  clouds.  And  the  sound,  not  deafening,  as  oft 
described,  but  like  the  voice  of  God — 'His  voice  was 
as  the  sound  of  many  waters.'  It  is  awe-inspiring, 
but  not  overwhelming.  I  bow  my  head  and  wor- 
ship. Lord,  teach  me  to  appreciate  the  yet  greater 
glories  Thou  hast  revealed.  '  As  77iany  waters  ! '  A 
thousand  rivers  and  ten  thousand  streams  are  min- 
gling here.  The  fountains  of  Erie,  of  Michigan,  and 
Huron  ;  those  also  of  that  vaster  and  more  distant 
sea,  one  thousand,  two  thousand  miles  away.  Every 
tiny  rivulet  swells  the  torrent,  as  every  saint  con- 
tributes to  the  glory  of  the  host  of  God.  But  what 
is  this  gem  at  my  feet  ?  It  is  the  fringed  gentian, 
fairest  of  flowers.  Oh,  Thou  Author  and  Artist  of 
all  loveliness,  amid  all  this  wealth  of  emerald  and 
crystal,  must  Thy  unrivalled  pencil  add  for  us  these 
tiny  blossoms  ? 

**  Whether  I  ever  see  Niagara  again  or  no,  it  re- 
mains to  me  henceforth  a  joy  for  ever." 


CHAPTER  XV. 

'  NEW   ENGLAND. 

**  I  DROVE  over  to  Amesbury,  Massachusetts,  from 
Newberry,  crossing  the  Merrimack  on  the  way — the 
beautiful  river  near  which,  as  John  G.  Whittier  tells 
us  in  Chalkley  Hall,  he  followed  the  plough  when  a 
boy.  Amesbury  is  a  pretty  country  town  where  a 
few  manufactures  are  carried  on  without  much  de- 
tracting from  its  rural  character.  The  streets  are 
Bhaded  by  fine  elm  trees,  and  the  poet  lives  in  a  neat 
little  wooden  house  painted  w^hite,  watli  a  piazza  at 
the  side.  There  are  three  little  sitting-rooms  on  the 
ground  floor,  and  in  the  one  used  as  his  study  we 
spent  most  of  the  time  I  was  there.  He  met  me  at 
the  door,  and  gave  me  a  kind  welcome.  He  is  al- 
tered since  the  likeness  was  taken  we  commonly  see 
in  his  poems,  and  his  hair  and  beard  are  white.  He 
has  a  fine  brow,  and  his  face  is  indicative  of  thought- 
fulness.  I  am  told  that  his  reputation  is  rising  day 
by  day  in  America,  and  they  look  upon  him  as  the 
peer  of  their  first  literary  men. 

"  '  I  cannot  study  much  now,'  said  Whittier,  'and 
spend  much  of  my  time  in  the  open  air.  I  was 
brought  up  on  a  farm,  and  farm  surroundings  suit 
me  in  my  old  age.  For  thirty  years  I  lived  on  a 
farm  doing  farm  work.     The  next  twenty  years  were 


1 84  Memories  of  Stafiiey  Ptimphrey. 

given  to  the  anti-slavery  cause.  I  was  the  secretary 
of  the  Anti-Slavery  Society,  and  during  two  years 
edited  a  paper  in  the  interests  of  the  slave  in  Phila- 
delphia ;  but  they  burnt  my  office,  and  drove  me 
away.  I  was  obliged  to  borrow  the  light  drab  suit 
of  a  very  plain  Friend  and  escape  in  this  disguise,  or 
they  would  have  torn  me  to  pieces,  so  intense  was 
the  feeling  against  the  abolitionists  in  those  days.' 

"  Our  conversation  naturally  turned  a  good  deal 
on  the  Society  of  Friends,  of  which  he  is  a  warmly 
attached  member.  Many  of  the  holiest  examples  of 
Christian  life  he  had  known  had  been  Quakers  of 
the  olden  time. 

** '  I  have  been  particularly  struck,'  he  said,  'with 
the  calmness  with  which  Joseph  Sturge  went  right 
on,  no  matter  what  was  said  of  him,  with  full  confi- 
dence in  the  ultimate  triumph  of  the  right  ;  looking 
day  by  day  for  the  guidance  of  the  Spirit,  and  for 
the  power  of  divine  grace  to  do  the  will  of  God. 
This  is  what  constitutes  fundamentally  the  distinc- 
tive attitude  of  Quakerism.  I  reverence  the  memory 
of  William  Forster  and  his  earnest  persuasive  plead- 
ing, and  I  never  heard  any  ministry  characterized 
by  so  much  power  and  unction  as  that  of  Benjamin 
Seebohm.  There  was  a  depth  of  thought  in  it  that 
appealed  especially  to  cultivated  men.  John  Wool- 
man  is  my  ideal  saint.  I  have  introduced  his  biog- 
raphy to  the  notice  of  many  of  my  literary  friends, 
and  they  are  always  charmed  with  it.  Channing 
said,  *  That  life  is  not  the  property  of  a  sect.  You 
don't  know  the  treasure  you  have  in  that  volume.' 

*'  Whittier  went  on  to  speak  of  the  literary  men  of 


New  Engla7id.  185 

America,  adding,  '■  But  Tennyson  is  decidedly  the 
first  of  living  poets.  His  ''In  Memoriam  "  is  a  great 
poem.  With  regard  to  Milton,  I  enjoy  his  prose 
works  more  than  his  poetry  ;  they  are  full  of  grand 
thoughts  nobly  expressed.  The  love  of  truth  and 
liberty  that  breathes  in  them  is  sublime.'  He  spoke 
of  the  Vedas  and  early  Hindu  writings.  *  Some  of 
them  contain  great  and  truly  Christian  thoughts, 
akin  to  some  we  meet  with  in  the  New  Testament. 
Some  people  are  afraid  when  they  meet  with  coinci- 
dences like  this.  Why  should  we  be  ?  Why  not  re- 
joice at  truth  wherever  Ave  find  it,  and  especially 
when  we  find  it  in  unlikely  places  ?  Does  it  not 
show  us  that  the  Great  Father  has  not  left  Himself 
without  a  witness ;  and  that,  according  to  the  old 
Quaker  doctrine.  He  has  other  ways  of  teaching  his 
children  beside  the  written  revelation  that  He  has 
given  them  ?  Look  at  the  writings  of  that  noble 
heathen  philosopher  Marcus  Aurelius,  teaching  as 
he  does  the  same  lessons  of  forgiveness  that  we  find 
in  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount.  I  cannot  help  wishing 
he  had  known  Paul.  His  thoughts  of  Christianity 
might  have  been  so  different  then.  Church  history 
is  very  sad  and  humiliating.  Luther  had  a  rough 
piece  of  work  to  do,  and  he  was  the  man  to  do  it. 
But  mere  copyists  are  always  feeble,  and  we  had 
better  hold  our  own  ground. 

''  Think  of  such  men  as  Stephen  Grellet  and  Chalk- 
ley.  If  theirs  is  not  Christianity,  I  do  not  know  where 
to  find  it.  I  was  brought  up  on  Friends'  books  ;  they 
were  at  one  time  almost  my  only  reading  :  I  learned 
to  love  them,  and  have  never  lost  my  love.     I  admire 


1 86  Memories  of  Staitley  Pumphrey. 

some  of  the  Roman  Catholic  saints,  but  am  well  sat- 
isfied that  the  saints  of  the  Quaker  calendar  are  quite 
their  peers.  One  of  the  finest  features  about  them  is 
that  they  were  so  utterly  unconscious  of  their  saint- 
hood. I  cannot  regard  Quakerism  as  a  failure  ;  and 
have  confidence  in  its  ultimate  triumph.  The  influ- 
ence of  the  godly  example  of  those  who  have  sought 
faithfully  to  follow  the  leadings  of  the  Spirit  can 
never  be  lost,^  and  the  influence  of  the  Friends  on 
the  early  history  of  America  has  probably  been 
stronger  than  that  of  any  other  set  of  men  except 
the  Puritans.  We  see  it  in  the  institutions  and  legis- 
lation of  the  country.' " 

In  a  subsequent  visit  to  Whittier,  Stanley  had  the 
welcome  company  of  Pliny  E.  Chase,  whose  brother, 
Thomas  Chase,  was  then  engaged  on  the  committee 
for  the  revision  of  the  New  Testament. 

*'  I  hope,"  said  Whittier,  turning  to  Pliny  E.  Chase, 
**  that  the  revisors  will  not  interfere  with  the  English 
of  the  Bible.  The  translators  no  doubt  made  some 
mistakes,  but  they  certainly  expressed  themselves  in 
some  of  the  purest  and  noblest  English.  I  am  sur- 
prised at  the  anxiety  of  some  religious  teachers  with 
regard  to  the  effect  of  scientific  investigations.  We 
must  never  be  afraid  of  truth  ;  and  more  than  that, 
truth  can  never  contradict  itself.  Even  if  evolution 
can  be  proved,  it  does  not  affect  the  doctrines  of 
Christianity. 

Pliny  E.  Chase  replied,    *'The  fault  of  scientific 

*  **  Show  me  a  man,"  writes  the  Rev.  W.  Hay  M.  H,  Aitken, 
* '  who  is  altogether  and  absolutely  led  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  and  I 
will  show  you  the  orthodox  man. " 


New  England.  187 

investigators  is  apt  to  be  that  they  are  too  hasty  in 
making  generalizations,  and  too  ready  to  confine 
their  attention  to  the  facts  that  support  their  own 
theories." 

Whittier  added,  *'  Our  reforms  are  slow,  but  the 
Lord  is  very  patient." 

Pliny  E.  Chase  says,  with  respect  to  this  interview 
— **  It  was  a  memorable  time,  and  has  done  me  good, 
mentally  and  spiritually.  A  belief  such  as  ours  in 
the  immanence  of  the  Divine  Spirit  is  just  the  kind 
of  truth  that  is  needed  to  counteract  some  of  the 
tendencies  of  scientific  speculation." 

Not  long  after  his  first  visit  to  Whittier,  Stanley 
Pumphrey  had  the  privilege  of  an  interview  with 
another  illustrious  New  England  poet — Henry  W. 
Longfellow,  of  which  he  gives  the  following  account 
in  his  diary  : — 

*'  Eighth  Month,  15th,  1876.— Yesterday  I  had  the 
great  pleasure  of  my  promised  visit  to  Longfellow 
My  kind  friend,  Augustine  Jones,  went  with  me,  and 
we  reached  the  poet's  house  about  half-past  ten. 

*^  He  had  gone  into  Boston,  but  was  likely  to 
return  at  noon.  We  spent  the  interval  in  a  visit  to 
the  Agassiz  Museum.  It  is  a  very  fine  collection, 
and  in  fishes,  Agassiz'  specialty,  is  far  more  com- 
plete than  the  British  Museum.  Indeed,  I  think  I 
was  told  they  have  four  times  as  many  specimens. 
We  strolled  back  at  noon,  and  found  that  Long- 
fellow was  still  out,  but  were  informed  he  might 
return  any  moment,  so  we  sat  down  under  the  shade 
of  some  trees  in  his  carriage  drive,  and  made  up  our 
minds  to  wait  till  one.     We  beguiled  the  time  with 


1 88  Memories  of  Stanley  PiiinpJirey. 

reading  The  New  E?igland  Tragedy  of  John  Endicott,  a 
book  Augustine  Jones  had  kindly  procured  for  me, 
as  he  found  I  had  not  read  it.  The  time  had  almost 
passed,  when,  to  our  great  delight,  the  poet  drove 
in,  accompanied  by  one  of  his  daughters.  I  don't 
know  whether  it  was  Alice  or  laughing  AUegra.  But 
she  is  a  little  girl  no  longer.  The  house  where  Long- 
fellow lives  is  historically  interesting  as  having  been 
once  the  home  of  Washington.  They  seem  to  have 
taken  a  pride  in  preserving  the  old  style  ;  the  antique 
balusters,  the  heavy  brass  knocker  and  brass  fittings 
to  the  door,  and  the  old  trees  on  the  public  avenue, 
are  all  preserved  with  care. 

When  Whittier's  note  of  introduction  had  been 
presented,  he  came  out  and  gave  us  a  warm  and 
kindly  greeting.  He  is  an  old  man  of  about  seventy, 
but  sprightly,  looking  very  like  the  portraits  we  have 
lately  seen,  long  white  hair,  beard  and  moustache,  a 
pair  of  very  bright  eyes,  and  a  pleasing  face.  He  is 
a  complete  gentleman,  and  at  once  set  us  at  our  ease. 
He  made  kind  enquiries  for  Whittier,  for  whom  he 
has  a  warm  regard.  '  We  are  almost  ready  to  w^ish 
your  friend  Whittier  a  few  vices  ;  perhaps  then  he 
would  come  amongst  us  a  little  more.  I've  tried 
hard  to  get  him  here,  and  never  succeeded  but  once. 
I  think  he  is  a  true  poet,  and  a  very  lovely  one.  His 
writings  are  a  great  enjoyment  to  me.  I  was  reading 
some  of  them  yesterday — '  Abraham  Davenport '  and' 
*  Amy  Wentworth.' 

*'  Then  he  openecf  the  book  and  read  a  few  stanzas 
from  the  latter  that  had  specially  pleased  him.  I 
said,  '  Abraham  Davenport '  is  one  of  my  greatest  fa- 


New  Engla7id.  189 

vourites  ;  it  has  the  right  ring.  'Yes,'  he  said,  'the 
right  ring,  A  man  who  is  doing  his  duty  should 
never  be  afraid  to  meet  his  Maker  ; '  and  he  quoted 
laughingly,  '  Bring  in  the  candles.' 

''  He  spoke  of  the  lines  on  Joseph  Sturge  as  char- 
acterized by  special  strength.  I  was  glad  to  be  able 
to  tell  him  that  Sturge  was  my  father's  friend,  and 
to  say  how  truly  the  character  was  drawn, — that  my 
father  had  taken  me  to  see  him  when  I  was  a  boy,  in 
order  to  impress  a  love  of  goodness  on  my  heart. 

''  Then  we  spoke  of  Friends,  for  whom  he  has  a 
warm  regard,  though  not  knowing  many  of  them 
personally.  '  They  have  left  their  mark  on  Pennsyl- 
vania very  favourably — America  owes  them  much. 
There  is  a  saint-like  beauty  about  the  faces  of  their 
women  which  I  have  often  loved  to  mark  as  I  pass 
them  in  the  streets.  There  was  one  who  came  over 
from  England  in  early  times,  because  she  wanted  to 
work  for  the  Indians.  I  ought  to  remember  her  name, 
for  I  wrote  something  about  her.'*  I  suggested  that  it 
might  be  Elizabeth  Haddon.  '  Yes,  that  was  the  one,' 
and  then  we  recalled  her  romantic  history  and  mar- 
riage with  John  Estaugh.  *  The  New  England  Trag- 
edies '  were  next  referred  to,  and  he  asked  us  if  we 
thought  he  had  described  Friends  fairly.  Augustine 
Jones  thought  he  had,  but  reminded  him  that  his  ac- 
count had  provoked  a  good  deal  of  adverse  criticism 
from  Puritan  sympathisers,  instancing  one  individual 
in  particular.     Longfellow  had  not  heard  of  this  be- 

*'*The  Theologian's  Tale,"  ''Tales  of  Wayside  \xiny— Long- 
fellow. 


1 90  Memories  of  Stanley  Piunphrey. 

fore,  and  I  suppose  this  critic  was  not  one  he  cared 
much  about,  for  he  said  it  reminded  him  of  what  the 
cow  said  to  the  fly  which  had  settled  on  her  horn  :  *  I 
didn't  know  you  were  there.' 

**  I  said  the  early  history  of  Friends  was  full  of 
noble  incidents.  Whittier  had  done  justice  to  one  of 
these  in  'Barclay  of  Ury,'  and  I  could  not  help  re- 
gretting he  had  not  done  the  same  by  Penn.  Long- 
fellow responded,  speaking  highly  of  Penn,  and  say- 
ing that  he  thought  Macaulay  had  done  him  great 
injustice.  The  worst  of  it  is,  when  a  mistake  was 
proved  against  him,  Macaulay  stuck  to  it  ;  that  is 
not  worthy  of  a  great  mind. 

'^  Whittier's  name  kept  coming  up  while  we  talked. 
I  said,  *  His  works  have  not  nearly  so  many  readers 
in  England  as  Longfellow's.'  He  replied,  *I  am 
aware  of  it ;  his  works  are  not  appreciated  by  you  at 
all  as  they  ought  to  be.'  Then  I  thanked  him,  and 
said  I  was  sure  I  might  do  it  in  the  name  of  very 
many  of  my  countrymen,  for  the  great  pleasure  his 
writings  had  given  us.  I  added  that  there  was  one 
of  his  Avorks  that  I  had  not  yet  found  time  to  read, 
but  which  I  looked  forward  to  doing  with  great  in- 
terest— the  translation  of  Dante.  I  thought  he  must 
have  greatly  enjoyed  the  labour,  though  he  would 
doubtless  find  some  sentiments  and  many  descrip- 
tions that  would  not  be  congenial.  In  talking  to 
Whittier  I  found  he  greatly  preferred  the  '  Purga- 
torio '  before  either  of  the  other  sections.  *  Perhaps,' 
Longfellow  replied,  '  the  ''  Purgatorio  "  may  be  the 
greatest  poem  of  the  three  ;  the  closing  cantos  are 
very  fine,  but  I  enjoyed  the  *'  Paradiso."     Take  that 


New  England.  191 

interview  with  Peter,  the  twenty-seventh  canto.'  I 
spoke  of  some  of  the  thoughts  he  presents  to  us  of 
heaven  ;  of  that  favourite  passage  of  mine  in  the 
third  canto,  of  the  growing  loveliness  as  we  approach 
the  Lord,  and  of  the  everlasting  fountain  of  knowl- 
edge and  truth  opened  to  the  redeemed  in  Him. 
Longfellow  reached  the  volume  and  read  part  of  the 
canto  to  which  he  referred.  It  was  a  treat  to  hear 
him.  He  reads  well,  and  threw  much  animation  into 
it  as  his  bright  eye  kindled  and  sparkled  more  than 
ever.  Peter's  withering  denunciation  of  the  vices  of 
his  successors  in  the  chair,  which  made  him  who  had 
glowed  like  Jupiter  blush  like  Mars  ;  all  heaven  red- 
dened with  shame  as  he  spoke  to  Beatrice.  '  To 
think  of  that  being  written  in  the  days  of  the  full 
power  of  the  papacy  ! '  exclaimed  Longfellow. 

^'  We  had  spent  half  an  hour  with  him,  and  thought 
we  ought  not  to  trespass  longer  on  his  time.  I  said, 
*  May  I  ask  one  favour — that  you  will  return  me 
Whittier's  note  of  introduction  with  your  own  auto- 
graph attached?  '  O,  certainly,'  he  said,  'I  will  en- 
dorse it  with  great  pleasure,  "  Seen  and  approved, 
Henry  W.  Longfellow.  Cambridge,  August  24, 
1876." '  He  accompanied  us  to  the  door  and  took  a 
very  cordial  leave." 

"  Now  I  must  return  to  my  journal  which  broke 
oif  at  Worcester.  I  found  that  good  city  a  pleasant 
place  to  stop  at,  like  our  own  in  old  England.  The 
city  is  an  important  manufacturing  centre.  We 
went  to  the  wire  works,  said  to  be  the  largest  in  the 
world,  where  they  employ  a  thousand  hands.  It  is 
a  wonderful  sight  to  see  a  rod  twenty  feet  long  put 


192  Memories  of  Stanley  Pumphrey. 

ihto  a  furnace  and  then  drawn  out  in  about  two 
minutes  a  coil  of  wire  a  quarter  of  a  mile  long.  It 
is  passed  by  a  newly-invented  process,  which  an 
Englishman  and  an  American  amicably  perfected 
between  them,  through  a  succession  of  dies,  some 
round,  some  octagon,  but  each  leaving  the  rod  with 
diminished  diameter.  The  men  draw  out  the  wire, 
whirling  it  to  cool  on  the  floor,  where  it  twists  about 
like  a  fiery  creeping  serpent  ;  and  then  picking  it 
up,  the  men  pass  it  through  another  machine  to  be 
wound  in  a  coil.  The  galvanizing  of  telegraph 
wires,  and  the  preparation  of  piano  wires  also  inter- 
ested me. 

''The  New  England  Yearly  Meeting  of  1876,  held 
at  Newport,  Rhode  Island,  was  small,  partly  in  con- 
sequence of  the  counter  attraction  of  the  Centennial, 
and  partly  on  account  of  the  depressed  state  of  com- 
merce making  it  incumbent  on  people  to  economise. 
New  England  Yearh^  Meeting  is  more  like  our  own 
than  any  I  have  attended,  except  perhaps  Baltimore. 
There  are  a  considerable  number  of  wealthy  and 
well-educated  people  among  them  and  a  disposition 
among  the  members  to  think  for  themselves  instead 
of  letting  a  few  leaders  do  it  all  for  them.  Eli  Jones 
is  a  man  of  mark  and  power  among  them,  but  can- 
not always  get  his  own  way.  The  young  men  many 
of  them  go  West,  and  a  good  many  do  not  marry 
Quaker  wives,  and  while  they  do  not  lose  their  mem- 
bership thereby,  their  children  do  not  come  on  the 
Society's  books.  The  Foreign  Mission  meeting  was 
capital.  Eli  Jones  was  the  speaker  of  the  evening, 
and  gave  a  very  interesting  account  of  the  Brumana 


New  England.  193 

Mission  in  Syria,  depicting  the  meetings  there  and 
the  members  very  vividly.  An  epistle  from  Brum- 
ana  to  the  Yearly  Meeting  was  read.  I  spoke  to 
them  of  the  work  in  Madagascar.  The  concluding 
meeting  was  a  very  precious  one.  Elkanah  Beard 
alluded  to  a  motto  he  saw  hung  out  during  the  visit 
of  the  Prince  of  Wales  to  India,  *  Love — show  it.' 
The  story  runs,  some  little  birds  were  chirping  in  a 
nest;  one  said,  *I  love  you,  I  love  you,'  and  the 
other  answered,  *  Show  it,  show  it,  show  it.'  Thus 
let  no  one  who  comes  to  our  meetings  feel  as  though 
they  were  overlooked.  Let  attenders  be  visited  at 
their  own  homes.  A  young  man  landed  at  New 
York,  and  enquired  for  the  nearest  place  of  worship. 
He  was  directed  to  a  beautiful  place  where  every- 
thing was  well-conducted,  the  music  good  and 
nothing  to  offend,  but  no  one  took  any  notice  of 
him.  In  the  afternoon  he  went  to  a  less  assuming 
chapel,  but  there  he  was  kindly  greeted  as  he  went 
in,  was  shown  a  good  seat,  and  the  minister  came 
down  from  the  pulpit  before  he  could  get  away  at 
the  end,  and  gave  him  a  hearty  shake  of  the  hand, 
and  that  shook  a  whole  generation  of  preachers  into 
the  Methodist  Church,  for  he  became  a  useful  mem- 
ber and  his  three  sons  all  joined  the  ministry. 

"  Leaving  Newport,  Rhode  Island,  I  had  a  beauti- 
ful sail  of  two  hours  up  Narragansett  Bay.  Provi- 
dence is  situated  just  at  the  head  of  the  Bay,  and  is 
a  fine  city  of  100,000  inhabitants.  It  is  tolerably 
rich  in  steeples  and  public  buildings,  but  the  most 
prominent  building  is  the  gas-w^orks,  the  gasometer 
being  covered  by  a  large  white  dome  bigger  than  the 
9 


194         Memories  of  Stanley  Pumphrey. 

dome  of  St.  Peter's.  The  Friends'  School  is  on  high 
ground  above  the  town,  and  from  the  cupola  is  one 
of  the  finest  views  in  America,  embracing  a  consider- 
able portion  of  the  little  State  of  Rhode  Island,  and 
Narragansett  Bay  and  islands.  The  school  is  one 
of  the  best  institutions  of  the  kind  in  America.  It 
is  under  the  care  of  Albert  K.  Smiley,  brother  of 
Sarah  Smiley.  The  attendance  is  about  120  boys 
and  100  girls.  They  remain  at  school  much  longer 
in  these  institutions  than  is  usual  with  us  in  England, 
and  many  of  them  are  from  eighteen  to  twenty-one 
years  of  age.  Education  seems  to  be  carried  to  a 
higher  pitch  than  at  many  of  our  own  public  schools. 
Fourteen  of  the  students  had  graduated  in  the  year 
and  were  presented  with  certificates." 

Elkanah  Beard  accompanied  Stanley  through  most 
of  New  England,  and  was  very  helpful.  At  the 
meeting  at  Falmouth,  Stanley  gave  a  discourse  on  a 
water  lily  which  a  kind  friend  had  given  him  as  he 
entered  the  meeting. 

"  This  flower,  when  handed  to  me,  was  very  fra- 
grant and  very  beautiful.  Yet  its  root  had  no  come- 
liness, and  grew  out  of  the  mire.  See  what  lovely 
things  God  can  make  from  very  unpromising  ma- 
terial. In  the  world  of  grace,  those  that  have  been 
black  become  comely  ;  those  that  have  been  dark 
as  the  Arabian  tents  are  made  glorious,  like  the 
curtains  of  Solomon.  From  the  length  of  the  stalk 
of  this  flower,  we  see  it  has  grown  up  through 
deep  waters  ;  and  the  most  beautiful  lives  are  devel- 
oped by  trial ;  they  rise  through  it,  and  unfold  their 
blossoms  to  the  Sun  of  Righteousness.     This  flower, 


New  England.  195 

lately  so  beautiful,  is  now  withered.  Why  ?  Be- 
cause it  is  severed  from  the  root.  Christ  is  our  root. 
Severed  from  Him  we  have  no  beauty,  no  life. 
*  Consider  the  lilies,  how  they  grow.'  " 

On  the  8th  of  July,  1876,  Stanley  started  for  Nan- 
tucket in  company  with  Elkanah  Beard.  Passing 
the  Elizabeth  Islands,  and  the  island  of  Martha's 
Vineyard,  a  pleasant  three  hours'  sail  brought  them 
to  land. 

*'  The  island  is  something  the  shape  of  the  cres- 
cent moon.  The  horns  are  constantly  growing  from 
the  washing  up  of  sand,  the  western  horn  having  ex- 
tended five  miles  in  two  generations.  The  town  is 
on  rising  ground  in  the  centre  of  the  island.  The 
harbour  is  shallow.  It  was  once  the  seat  of  the  whal- 
ing trade,  100  whalers,  and  200  other  vessels  belong- 
ing to  the  port ;  but  Nantucket  declined  as  New 
Bedford  rose,  and  now  the  whole  of  the  whaling  trade 
has  left  it,  and  the  population  has  gone  down  from 
9000  to  a  little  over  3000.  In  connection  with  the 
Society  of  Friends,  Nantucket  is  of  historical  interest. 
Whittier,  in  his  ballad  of  the  exiles,  has  described  the 
first  settlement  oftheMacyson  the  island.  Friends 
were  not  an  important  community  till  the  visit  of 
Samuel  Bownas  who  had  a  remarkable  meeting  here, 
and  by  his  ministry  convinced  a  'great  w^oman,' 
Mary  Starbuck.  Through  her  influence  the  leading 
people  of  the  island  all  joined  Friends,  and  the 
others  not  being  able  to  maintain  a  priest,  came  in 
also.  Samuel  Fothergill  speaks  of  attending  a  Year- 
ly Meeting  on  Nantucket,  in  1755,  at  which  1500 
were  present,  mostly  Friends,  and  400  more  belong- 


196  Memories  of  Stanley  Puniphrey. 

ing  to  the  Society  were  away  with  their  boats.  Some 
time  later  the  number  of  Friends  rose  to  2000. 
Within  the  memory  of  persons  now  living  there 
were  two  large  Monthly  Meetings,  with  probably 
1500  members.  The  first  great  blow  the  Society  re- 
ceived was  through  the  Hicksite  secession,  which 
here  alone,  of  the  New  England  Meetings,  drew  off 
a  large  number. 

''Then  followed  a  period  of  severe  disciplinary 
proceedings.  A  Friend,  a  native  of  Nantucket,  says 
his  boyish  recollection  is  that  about  five  persons 
were  disowned  every  month.  They  were  in  a 
chronic  state  of  disputation  for  about  fifty  years.  By 
1846  the  number  of  members  had  dwindled  to  about 
400,  of  whom  three-fourths  went  off  with  John  Wil- 
bur. Both  branches  have  steadily  declined.  If 
people  get  into  a  fault-finding  spirit,  and  make  up 
their  minds  that  they  will  not  unite  with  any  who  do 
not  see  with  them  on  all  points,  they  quickly  scatter. 
Self-will  has  a  good  deal  to  do  with  it." 

There  is  much  that  is  humiliating  in  the  inner 
history  of  Christian  churches  ;  yet  the  lessons  of 
church  history  are  intensely  important  to  the  wel- 
fare of  the  churches  of  to-day,  and  we  cannot  afford 
to  shut  our  eyes  to  the  lessons  of  the  past,  however 
humbling  they  may  be.  But  other  causes  have  been 
at  work  in  the  decline  of  the  Society  in  Nantucket. 
Friends  seldom  stay  in  a  declining  town,  and  the 
young  people  have  been  moving  off  for  many  years 
past.  It  was  from  Nantucket  that  the  colony  of 
Starbucks  came,  who  founded  the  little  meeting  at 
Milford  Haven,  in  South  Wales. 


New  England.  197 

"A  large  proportion  of  the  meetings  in  New  Eng- 
land are  in  a  declining  state,  and  the  aspect  of  the 
Society  is  not  encouraging.  I  have  often  had  to 
preach  as  forcibly  as  I  could  on  the  atoning  work  of 
the  Saviour,  and  that  He  is  the  Son  of  God  and  One 
with  the  Father. 

''At  Lynn  I  spoke  from  Romans  xii.  i,  recapitu- 
lating the  mercies  of  God  as  described  in  the  pre- 
vious chapters,  and  endeavouring  to  set  forth  the 
truth  as  taught  in  Paul's  great  doctrinal  epistle — the 
fall  of  man,  the  universal  and  imperative  need  of 
salvation,  in  this  respect  'no  difference,'  for  all, 
whether  their  sins  have  been  more  or  less  flagrant, 
are  debtors,  having  nothing  to  pay ;  the  utter  folly 
of  thinking  we  could  deserve  heaven,  illustrated  by 
the  saying  of  Franklin  that  it  was  like  expecting  to 
be  rewarded  for  a  draught  of  water  by  the  gift  of  a 
plantation  ;  the  free  gift  of  salvation  through  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  set  forth  to  be  a  propitiation 
through  faith  in  His  blood,  a  blessing  we  lay  hold  of 
by  faith  and  thus  receive  peace  with  God  through 
Him  ;  deliverance  from  the  power  as  well  as  redemp- 
tion from  the  guilt  of  sin,  the  gift  of  the  Spirit,  the 
blessings  brought  through  that  gift,  adoption,  son- 
ship,  heirship,  fellowship  (the  honour  of  fellowship 
in  suffering),  inseparable  love.  My  heart  glowed 
and  my  tongue  was  loosed  as  these  glorious  themes 
were  brought  before  my  view.  '  I  want  to  talk  to  you 
about  many  things,  some  time,'  said  a  woman  Friend 
to  me  afterwards  ;  '  there  is  one  question  I  want  to 
put  now.'  And  then,  in  a  tone  searching  as  the 
voice  of  conscience,  she  queried,  '  Is  there  not  some- 


iqS  Memories  of  Stanley  Ptimphrey. 

thing  gratifying  to  you  in  finding  that  your  preach- 
ing is  admired  ? '  I  told  her  something  of  what  the 
Lord  had  done  for  me,  but  I  dared  not  give  a  clear 
reply,  and  the  salutary  conviction  was  sealed  by  the 
faithful  question,  that  self  was  not  wholly  crucified, 
and  that  I  need  to  beware." 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

KANSAS. 

"  Kansas  is  the  youngest  in  the  family  of  Yearly 
Meetings,  but  has  already  over  4000  members.  It  is 
here  you  see  the  most  distinctly  what  frontier  life  is, 
and  are  able  to  appreciate  the  labours  and  the  dis- 
advantages encountered  in  the  first  settlement  of  a 
country.  I  was  there*  on  three  several  occasions. 
When  I  first  went  they  had  been  suffering  griev- 
ously from  drought  and  grasshoppers.  I  thought 
I  had  never  before  so  vividly  realized  the  wisdom  of 
the  prayer,  'Give  me  neither  poverty  nor  riches.'  I 
had  felt  the  force  of  the  latter  half  of  the  petition, 
but  not  of  the  former.  I  now  saw  clearly  that  hard 
toil  and  grinding  poverty  are  not  favourable  for 
spiritual  development,  and  that  'give  not  poverty* 
is  an  appropriate  prayer.  At  the  last  Yearly  Meet- 
ing I  attended  in  Kansas  there  was  evidence  of  some 
improvement  in  the  outward  position  of  a  portion  of 
the  meeting,  but  marks  of  continued  poverty  among 
others  were  only  too  numerous.  No  Friend  was 
present  from  Walnut  Creek  quarter,  200  miles  off  to 
the  north-w^est,  though  it  has  800  members.  It  was 
well  known  that  lack  of  means  was  the  only  cause. 
Our  dear  friends  Helen  Balkwill  and  Susan  Doyle 
spent  a  month  in  that  district.     They  laboured  with 


200  Memories  of  Sta7iley  Pumphrey, 

patience  and  devotion,  and  their  work  was  blessed. 
They  found  many  Friends  living  in  earth  caves,  called 
'dug-outs' — holes  made  in  banks,  where  the  only 
entrance  for  liglit  and  air  is  from  the  front.  There 
is  no  timber  in  tliat  part  of  the  country,  and  this  is 
the  best  thing  they  could  do.  In  some  cases  '  dug- 
outs '  are  lised  for  Meeting  Houses.  In  the  Men's 
Yearly  Meeting  of  1878,  a  valued  minister,  Hannah 
Tatum,  came  in  with  a  singular  message.  She  ex- 
horted the  men  to  be  kind  and  thoughtful  to  their 
wives,  not  to  let  them  work  too  hard,  but  to  be  ready 
to  lighten  their  burdens  by  fetching  the  buckets  of 
water  and  chopping  the  wood.^  She  knew  what  fron- 
tier life  was,  for  she  had  passed  through  it  in  Iowa, 
and,  had  she  not  had  a  kind  husband,  who  was  ready 
to  do  such  things  for  her,  she  did  not  think  she  would 
have  lived  to  deliver  this  message.  I  believe  it  was 
a  right  message,  and  there  w^as  sound  sense  and  prac- 
tical Christianity  in  it. 

"  Most  of  the  Friends  in  the  station  of  minister  are 
poor ;  and  they  make  sacrifices  in  the  discharge  of 
their  w^ork  of  which  we  can  form  little  conception. 
Friends  in  the  west  have  not  yet  those  systematic 
arrangements  that  we  have  for  meeting  the  expenses 
of  those  who  travel  in  the  ministry  ;  and  thus  it 
often  happens  that  the  preachers  not  only  give  their 
time  but  their  money  too.  Some  have  really  been 
impoverished  in  this  way.  I  heard  one  Friend  say 
that  in  the  thirty  years  of  his  ministry  he  had  paid 
for  travelling  expenses  in  his  religious  journeys  2500 
dollars  ;  while  from  the  Friends  of  the  Quarterly 
Meetings  that  had  liberated  him  for  service  he  had 


Kansas.  201 

only  received  assistance  to  the  extent  of  56  dollars. 
He  was  not  a  man  who  could  afford  it ;  and  I  do  not 
wonder  that,  under  such  circumstances,  many  have 
felt  and  said  that  their  brethren  were  not  doing  their 
right  part  in  aiding  them. 

"  Kansas  Yearly  Meeting  assembled  at  Lawrence 
on  the  6th  October,  1876.  The  house  stands  just 
outside  the  town.  It  is  a  good  stone  building  of  two 
stories,  the  men  occupying  the  basement,  the  women 
being  in  the  room  above.  There  are  two  wings  to 
the  building,  in  which  are  sundry  committee-rooms  ; 
and  there  is  a  good  sized  piece  of  ground  surround- 
ing it.  There  were  seldom  more  than  a  hundred  and 
fifty  men  present.  J.  Bevan  Braithwaite  of  London, 
and  Robert  W.  Douglas,  John  Frederick  Hansen,  and 
other  ministers  from  a  distance  were  present,  includ- 
ing Thomas  H.  Dana,  an  Oneida  Indian,  who  is  a 
recognized  preacher  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church." 

The  experience  of  this  Indian  is  best  given  in  his 
own  words.  He  says  : — "From  my  earliest  recollec- 
tion I  well  remember  that  the  Great  Spirit  strove 
with  me,  condemning  me  when  I  did  wrong,  and  ap- 
proving when  I  did  right.  At  seven  years  old — my 
mother  being  dead,  and  my  father  having  forsaken 
me — feeling  desolate,  I  was  going  into  the  woods  to 
die.  It  was  dark,  and  I  halted  to  wait  for  the  dawn. 
As  I  sat  in  the  hollow  of  a  hemlock  tree,  the  Great 
Spirit  said  to  me,  *  Sunrise  (this  was  my  name),  get 
down  on  thy  knees,  and  look  up.'  I  did  not  under- 
stand what  this  meant,  but  I  obeyed,  got  down  on 
my  knees  and  remained  silent.     I  rose  ;  and  the  Great 


202  Memories  of  Stanley  Pmnphrey . 

Spirit  said  to  me  again,  '  Sunrise,  get  down  upon  thy 
knees.'  I  again  knelt  down  and  waited  till  I  was 
weary.  Then  I  rose  ;  and  the  Great  Spirit  said  to 
me  again,  *  Sunrise,  put  off  thy  crown  and  strip  thy- 
self of  thy  ornaments.'  I  had  on  my  head  an  Indian 
crown  such  as  were  worn  by  the  children  of  chiefs, 
and  many  other  ornaments,  a  child's  tomahawk,  knife, 
and  bow  and  arrows.  I  stripped  all  off ;  took  my 
crown,  crushed  it  up  ;  put  all  the  things  together, 
tied  my  bowstring  round  them,  and  tossed  them  out 
of  the  hollow  of  the  tree.  The  Great  Spirit  again 
said,  '  Sunrise,  go  down  on  thy  knees.'  While  wait- 
ing in  profound  silence,  there  seemed  a  light  like 
lightning  shining  around.  It  came  into  the  tree, 
and  lighted  on  my  head,  going  all  over  me  and 
through  me.  After  this  I  was  in  perfect  peace  and 
rest ;  I  loved  everybody  ;  my  troubles  wxre  all  gone. 
I  rose  and  returned  to  the  camp.  Ever  since  I  have 
lived  in  this  peace  and  rest.  At  this  time  I  had  never 
heard  of  Christ  or  of  the  Bible,  and  knew  nothing  of 
prayer.  On  my  return  to  the  camp  my  friends  at 
once  recognised  the  change  in  me,  and  one  of  my  re- 
lations said,  '  The  Great  Spirit  has  been  speaking  to 
him.'  These  words  made  a  great  impression  on  them; 
and  when,  soon  after,  a  Christian  teacher  came  round, 
he  found  us  in  a  prepared  condition  to  receive  the 
Gospel." 

"At  twelve  years  of  age  he  received  a  call  to  the 
ministry,  the  inward  moving  of  the  Holy  Spirit  and 
earnest  love  for  the  souls  of  men  being  the  evidence 
of  the  commission.  For  thirty-five  years  he  has  been 
labouring  among  the  Indians,  chiefly   the   Oneidas 


Kansas,  203 

and  Senecas  of  New  York  State.  His  uncle,  who 
lived  to  the  age  of  106,  told  him  of  pious  Indians  of 
the  Oneida  tribe  who  lived  before  white  men  came 
among  them,  and  he  believed  the  Lord  had  gathered 
many  into  his  garner  from  among  them. 

''The clerk  of  the  Yearly  Meeting  is  William  Nich- 
olson, the  superintendent  of  the  Indian  Agencies. 
J.  B.  Braithwaite  had  a  very  interesting  interview 
with  the  Indian  Agents.  He  spoke  to  them  beauti- 
fully from  the  words,  '  Thy  shoes  shall  be  iron  and 
brass,  and  as  thy  days  so  shall  thy  strength  be,'  show- 
ing how  the  Lord  fortifies  us  against  the  roughness 
of  the  way.  A  beautiful  prayer  for  the  blessing  of 
God  upon  the  Indian  work,  and  on  all  who  are  en- 
gaged in  it,  followed.  A  Cheyenne  Indian,  called 
'  Big  Horse,'  afterwards  made  a  speech.  Agent  Miles 
interpreting.  It  was  almost  all  done  by  the  lan- 
guage of  signs  which  is  common  to  all  the  tribes." 

After  Yearly  Meeting,  Enoch  Hoag  and  Stanley 
Pumphrey  passed  on  to  the  country  meetings  in 
Kansas,  and  very  cordial  were  the  welcomes  they 
received.  In  these  outlying  districts  the  visits  of 
ministers  are  far  between,  and  the  expression  of 
sympathy  and  Christian  interest  amid  the  hard  toil 
and  rough  experiences  of  Western  farm-life  was 
doubly  cheering.  But  such  visits  sometimes  involved 
a  good  deal  of  personal  discomfort.  On  entering 
one  of  these  isolated  homesteads,  Stanley  remarks  : 
*' There  was  little  room  to  spare.  The  dining-table 
occupied  the  full  breadth  of  the  end  of  the  room,  and 
the  cooking-stove  filled  a  large  part  of  the  remain- 
ing space.      A  tall,  active  woman  was  clearing  off 


204  Memories  of  Stanley  Pumphrey. 

supper,  two  lively  little  boys  were  coursing  about,  a 
sister-in-law  was  looking  after  two  babies,  and  we 
filled  in  somewhere  in  the  remaining  space.  The 
mistress  was  informed  I  came  from  England,  at  which 
she  burst  into  a  loud  laugh  and  said,  *  Well,  I  should 
like  to  know  what  he  wants  to  come  here  for.'  In 
the  course  of  the  evening  another  brother  and  his 
wife  came  in.  These  settlers  in  the  far  west  have  a 
hard  time  of  it,  and  claim  the  strong  sympathy  of 
those  who  stay  amid  happier  surroundings.  When 
bedtime  came,  we  learned  that  there  was  but  one 
bedroom.  I  suggested  that  I  had  been  camping  out, 
and  as  the  kitchen  was  nice  and  warm,  I  would  like 
to  be  allowed  to  make  my  bed  there  on  the  floor. 
Of  this,  however,  they  would  not  hear.  They  had 
fixed  the  bed  upstairs,  and  there  we  must  go.  We 
were  nearly  being  too  late  for  the  train  next  morning, 
and  if  we  had  missed  it  we  should  have  been  prison- 
ers till  the  following  morning,  as  there  is  only  one 
train  a  day,  according  to  the  usage  of  these  back 
country  lines." 

"  I  felt  it  right  to  propose  visiting  Friends  in 
their  families  at  Cottonwood,  to  which  they  at  once 
assented.  It  is  the  first  time  I  have  done  this  in  any 
meeting  in  America,  and  spent  parts  of  three  days  in 
the  service,  in  one  day  paying  fourteen  visits.  I  felt 
afresh  my  lack  of  special  qualification.  I  lay  no 
claim  to  remarkable  spiritual  discernment,  and  could 
only  ask  for  help,  and  hope  that  the  fitting  words 
might  be  given.  I  believe  this  apostolic  practice  of 
visiting  from  house  to  house  ought  to  be  more  prac- 
tised than  it  is,  and  that  we  ought  to  cease  to  expect 


Kansas.  205 

that  the  secrets  either  of  the  past  or  the  future 
should  be  disclosed.  That  this  has  frequently  been 
done  in  such  visits  is  no  reason  for  regarding  it  as 
that  which  should  always  be  done. 

*'  The  most  flourishing  part  of  Kansas  Yearly 
Meeting  appears  to  be  the  newly-established  Quar- 
terly Meeting  of  Walnut  Creek,  two  hundred  miles 
to  the  north-west  of  Lawrence,  on  the  State  line 
dividing  Kansas  from  Nebraska.  The  Friends  there 
are  very  poor,  many  of  them  living  in  the  '  dug-outs ' 
previously  referred  to.  They  find  a  bank,  dig  a  cave 
in  it,  make  a  projecting  wall  of  the  earth,  roof  it  over, 
put  in  a  door  and  perhaps  a  window,  and  the  house 
is  built.  The  traveller  across  the  prairie  sometimes 
sees  a  stove-pipe  sticking  up  through  the  ground, 
and  becomes  aware  that  he  is  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  the  dwellings  of  his  fellow-men.  I  was  much 
pleased  with  one  of  their  ministers,  Andrew  Wooton. 
He  was  a  good  man,  deeply  in  earnest  for  the  pros- 
perity of  the  churches.  • 

*'  The  Indians  in  their  various  agencies  are  longing 

for  more  teachers.     *  Agent is  a  good  man,'  they 

say,  ^  looks  after  us  well,  knows  how  to  farm,  put  up 
buildings,  and  do  a  heap  of  things,  but  then  he  can- 
not preach.'  '  Agent  W.  is  a  good  man,'  again  they 
say,  '  he  fears  God,  he  talks  to  us  some,  but  we  want 
a  man  with  a  heap  of  fire.  Who  can  preach  to  us  every 
Sabbath  day.  We  expect  our  children  to  be  white 
folks  when  we  are  gone,  and  we  want  to  have  them 
taught.  Your  people  have  not  learned  us  much 
about  Jesus.  Cannot  you  stop  with  us  and  teach  us 
all  the  time  ? '  " 


2o6  Memories  of  Stanley  Pumphrey. 

Stanley  Pumphrey  on  his  second  and  third  visits 
to  Kansas  had  the  great  pleasure  of  meeting  Sarah 
B.  Satterthwaite  from  Allonby,  Cumberland,  and  the 
deputation  from  London  Yearly  Meeting,  consisting 
of  J.  B.  Braithwaite,  J.  J.  Dymond,  and  Richard 
Littleboy.  The  work  of  this  deputation  was  exceed- 
ingly valued  in  Kansas.  The  Yearly  Meeting  that 
year  was  considered  the  best  and  most  harmonious 
they  had  ever  held,  and  a  Friend  remarked  after- 
wards, **  The  deputation  has  made  the  Yearly  Meet- 
ing ;  "and  Stanley  adds,  ''If  the  deputation  had 
only  done  what  they  did  for  Kansas,  their  time  in 
coming  over  would  have  been  well  spent."  He  ob- 
served a  marked  improvement  in  the  spiritual  con- 
dition of  the  Kansas  meetings  in  contrasting  his  first 
and  last  visits  to  them. 

**  I  have  learned  to  love  Kansas  Friends  while 
working  among  them,  and  I  see  how  many  are  their 
disadvantages,  but  most  pioneer  settlements  have 
passed  through  similar  troubles.  The  great  need  is 
an  efficient  ministry  :  men  who  know  the  truth  and 
are  competent  to  declare  it.  I  have  had  no  such 
leave-taking  anywhere  as  I  had  at  the  close  of  the 
meetings  at  Lawrence.  It  was  touching  and  hum- 
bling to  have  so  many  crowding  round  to  say  farewell. 
Many  were  in  tears,  aqd  strong  men  with  their  eyes 
brimming  and  their  hearts  too  full  to  speak.  It  almost 
broke  me  down,  and  I  found  it  difficult  to  utter  the 
parting  words  for  each.  How  little  I  have  done  to 
deserve  the  love  they  gave  me  !  If  our  poor  love 
meets  with  such  recompense,  how  ought  we  to  be 
found  answering  the  mighty  love  of  Christ  ? 


Kansas,  207 

**  My  journey  to  St.  Louis  was  uncomfortable. 
About  six  in  the  evening  our  train  ran  into  a  snow- 
drift, and  there  stuck  fast.  The  stoves  in  the  cars 
were  so  arranged  as  only  to  burn  with  the  draught 
created  by  the  motion  of  the  train,  and  many  of  the 
windows  were  broken,  so  that  w^e  had  a  chilly  time 
of  it.  There  was  nothing  however  for  it  but  to  stop 
all  night.  The  conductor  and  another  man  plodded 
through  the  snow  a  mile  or  two  to  the  nearest  farm- 
house, and  brought  us  some  supper,  and  then  we 
composed  ourselves  as  best  we  could  for  the  night." 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

INDIAN    TERRITORY. 

*'In  the  course  of  the  autumn  and  winter  of  1876  I 
spent  several  weeks  among  the  tribes  in  the  Indian 
Territory,  w^hich,  including  the  tribes  I  visited  in 
Kansas,  are  about  thirty  in  number,  and  comprehend 
a  fourth  of  the  whole  Indian  population  of  the  United 
States.  They  include  some  of  the  wildest  and  worst, 
like  the  Comanches  and  Cheyennes,  and  some  of  the 
most  civilized,  like  the  Cherokees  and  Creeks,  with 
every  shade  of  barbarism  and  semi-civilization  be- 
tween. My  companion  during  the  greater  part  of 
the  trip  was  Enoch  Hoag,  who,  as  the  head  of  the 
Central  Superintendency,  devoted  himself  for  seven 
years  to  Indian  work. 

*'  In  the  Eastern  part  of  the  Indian  Territory,  ly- 
ing between  Texas  and  Kansas,  there  are  five  tribes 
located,  commonly  known  as  civilized  tribes.  These 
are  the  Cherokees,  numbering  18,000,  the  descend- 
ants of  the  once  powerful  tribe  that  occupied  the 
Carolinas  and  Tennessee  ;  the  Creeks,  numbering 
14,000,  whose  former  home  was  Georgia  ;  the  Choc- 
taws  and  Chickasaws,  of  Alabama  and  Mississippi, 
numbering  22,000  ;  and  the  Seminoles,  of  Florida, 
who  are  about  2500. 

''Among  these  tribes  we  began  our  tour,  and  at- 


Indian    Territory-  209 

tended  their  annual  fair  at  Muscogee.  At  the  fair, 
citizens'  dress  was  universal,  and  a  large  proportion 
of  the  people  might  have  passed  undistinguished 
along  Eastern  streets.  The  exhibition  was  credit- 
able as  far  as  it  went,  and  bore  evidence  of  success- 
sul  gardening,  farming,  and  cattle  raising. 

"The  Cherokees  have  a  good  system  of  Govern- 
ment, consisting  of  a  Chief,  and  Upper  and  Lower 
Houses,  and  an  excellent  code  of  laws,  framed  on 
the  model  of  the  United  States  of  America.  Belief 
in  one  God  and  in  future  rewards  and  punishments 
is  made  essential  to  rights  of  citizenship.  Every 
male  citizen  aged  18  is  an  elector.  Liberty  of  con- 
science is  granted  ;  the  sale  of  strong  drink  is  pro- 
hibited, and  the  observance  of  the  Sabbath  is  secured. 
Half  the  tribal  revenue  is  devoted  to  education  and 
the  support  of  the  orphans.  They  have  eighty-one 
day  schools  and  two  high  schools,  the  girls'  school 
being  under  the  care  of  an  excellent  Moravian  minis- 
ter. The  Cherokees  have  two  newspapers,  the  one 
published  at  Muscogee,  by  Ross,  formerly  chief  of 
the  nation  ;  the  other  is  published  at  Talequah,  partly 
in  the  Cherokee  alphabet  invented  by  the  ingenious 
Sequoyah,  the  Editor.  This  alphabet  consists  of 
eighty-five  letters,  representing  all  the  syllabic  sounds 
in  the  language,  so  that  when  a  child  has  mastered  it, 
he  has  learned  to  read.  Every  full-blood  Cherokee 
is  entitled  to  a  copy  of  this  paper  free  at  the  expense 
of  the  Treasury.  The  Cherokee  Nation  is  noAV  pro- 
fessedly Christian,  and  a  large  proportion  of  the 
people  attend  public  w^orship,  which  is  directed  for 
the  most  part   by  a  native  ministry.     The  advance 


210  Memories  of  Stanley  Purnphrey, 

among  the  Creeks  has  not  been  less  marked.  They 
have  thirty-three  day  schools,  and  three  boarding 
schools.  We  visited  all  the  latter,  and  were  exceed- 
ingly pleased  with  them.  The  Tallahassee  boarding 
school  has  been  for  thirty  years  under  the  charge  of 
W.  S.  Robertson,  a  Presbyterian  minister,  and  his 
wife.  Their  scholars  turned  out  well,  and  most  of 
the  rising  men  among  the  Creeks  pass  under  their 
care. 

"The  Choctaws  and  Chickasaws  have  sixty-six 
day  schools  and  six  boarding  schools.  The  Chicka- 
saws expend  46,000  dollars  a  year  on  education, 
which  is  probably  the  largest  sum  per  head  sub- 
scribed by  any  state  or  nation  in  the  world  for  edu- 
cational purposes,  amounting  to  an  average  of  eight 
dollars  per  head  for  every  man,  woman,  and  child,  in 
the  community.  Several  of  the  members  of  their 
legislature  are  preachers,  and  work  without  pay. 
Our  interpreter.  Judge  Folsom,  is  one  of  these.  His 
brother,  D.  E.  Folsom,  is  an  enterprising  farmer, 
with  400  acres  under  cultivation,  and  500  head  of 
cattle.  He  is  very  familiar  with  Shakespere,  and 
quick  to  correct  any  misquotation  of  his  favourite 
author.  The  leading  agriculturist  among  the  Choc- 
taws is  Wilson  Jones.  He  has  500  acres  of  pasture 
and  300  of  arable  land.  Another  Choctaw,  named 
Paul,  has  2000  acres  of  Indian  corn. 

"The  losses  of  the  Choctaws  during  the  Indian 
War  are  estimated  at  not  less  than  300,000  head  of 
cattle.  The  Christianization  and  colonization  of 
these  five  tribes  is  due  chiefly  to  the"  labours  of  the 
Methodists,  Baptists,  and  Presbyterians. 


Indian   Territory,  211 

*•'■  Throug^h  the  kindness  of  their  Governor,  Cole- 
man Cole,  we  had  the  opportunity  of  meeting  with 
the  Choctaw  Council. 

''  The  Governor  made  a  few  introductory  remarks 
in  Choctaw,  introducing  us,  and  then  Judge  Folsom 
interpreted  for  us  sentence  by  sentence. 

"  Enoch  Hoag  spoke  to  them  of  his  favourite  and 
valuable  scheme  for  uniting  all  the  Indian  tribes 
under  one  compact  government,  to  be  recognized  as 
a  Territory  under  the  United  States,  with  a  delegate 
having  a  right  to  speak  on  the  floor  of  the  house  at 
Washington. 

"  I  spoke  about  as  follows  : — *My  brothers  of  the 
Choctaw  nation,  I  have  crossed  the  Atlantic  Ocean 
and  have  taken  a  long  journey  to  come  to  see  you. 
I  w4sh  you  to  know  that  in  England  you  have  many 
friends.  In  the  land  of  William  Penn  and  among 
the  children  of  William  Penn  you  have  many  warm 
friends,  who  would  rejoice  in  your  prosperity.  God 
has  given  you  a  good  land  ;  you  have  wide  prairies, 
extensive  woods,  fine  rivers,  and  a  fertile  soil.  At 
the  fair  at  Muscogee  I  saw  the  proof  of  what  your 
land  can  produce.  I  saw  good  corn,  good  potatoes, 
good  wheat,  and  the  finest  apples  I  ever  saw  in  my 
life.  I  saw  also  good  stock,  cattle,  horses,  pigs,  and 
sheep.  I  am  told  your  land  is  also  well  adapted  for 
cotton.  The  Great  Spirit  meant  your  land  to  be 
cultivated  and  turned  to  the  best  account.  I  want 
you  to  encourage  your  people  to  enlarge  their  farms 
and  raise  more  upon  them,  for  thus  their  prosperity 
and  comfort  may  be  greatly  increased.  While  I  look 
on  this  as  important,  I  think  it  still  more  important 


212  Memories  of  Stafiley  Pumphrey. 

that  the  minds  of  your  people — your  young  people 
especially — should  be  rightly  trained.  I  am  glad  to 
notice  the  interest  taken  by  the  Indian  tribes  in  ed- 
ucation. At  Talequah  I  saw  excellent  school  build- 
ings, both  for  boys  and  girls,  equal  to  what  w^ould  be 
seen  in  the  United  States  or  in  my  own  country. 
The  Creeks  have  well-managed  schools,  where  much 
good  is  being  done.  I  am  glad  to  hear  that  you  also 
have  academies  and  many  district  schools.  This 
building  in  which  we  now  are,  I  understand,  used  to 
be  an  academy,  but  has  not  been  used  for  that  pur- 
pose since  the  war.  It  is  a  better  building  than  any 
occupied  by  the  Creeks,  and  it  seems  a  great  pity  it 
should  be  lying  unoccupied.  Can  you  not  manage 
again  to  start  the  school  ? 

''  God,  who  has  given  us  bodies  and  minds,  has 
also  given  us  souls,  and  it  is  His  gracious  will  that' 
our  souls  should  be  happy  with  Him  for  ever.  Jesus 
Christ  came  to  open  for  us  the  way  to  heaven,  and 
to  teach  us  how  to  live.  There  is  nothing  that  would 
give  your  brothers  in  England  more  joy  than  to  hear 
that  the  Choctaws  were  a  truly  Christian  nation.  I 
want  you  to  encourage  your  people  to  keep  holy  the 
Sabbath  day  ;  to  attend  public  worship  ;  to  avoid 
every  kind  of  sin  ;  and  to  follow  Jesus  faithfully. 
His  religion  is  a  religion  of  love.  There  ought  to  be 
no  jealousies  among  the  different  Indian  tribes  ;  their 
interests  are  one,  and  you  should  live  as  brethren. 
Your  land  is  as  large  as  England  and  Scotland  to- 
gether, although  there  are  fifty  times  as  many  people 
in  London  alone  as  there  are  in  the  Indian  Territory. 
So  there  is  plenty  of  room  for  more  people,  and  I 


Indian    Territory.  213 

want  you  to  keep  this  Territory  as  a  home  for  all  the 
Indian  tribes.  My  brothers,  I  have  been  glad  to 
speak  to  you,  and  I  bid  you  farewell.' 

"At  the  close  of  our  interview  we  shook  hands 
with  the  Governor  and  his  Council,  and  passed  down 
one  side  the  room,  taking  the  hand  of  every  Indian 
as  we  went.  Those  on  the  other  side  did  not  want 
to  be  missed,  and  they  all  came  over  in  a  troop  that 
we  might  take  the  hand  of  every  one. 

"  The  experiment  made  by  President  Grant  of 
committing  the  care  of  the  Indians  to  the  nominees 
of  the  religious  bodies  will  always  be  remembered  as 
one  of  the  striking  features  of  his  administration. 
It  was  certainly  a  remarkable  circumstance  that  one 
who  had  made  so  large  a  figure  as  a  military  man 
should  have  wished,  in  his  dealings  with  savages,  to 
revert  to  the  policy  of  peace,  endeavouring  to  subdue 
them  by  kindness  and  justice  rather  than  by  force. 
Friends  were  the  first  denomination  to  be  consulted, 
and  their  share  in  the  work  continued  to  be  a  prom- 
inent one  throughout  the  eight  years  of  Grant's 
tenure  of  office.  That  the  plan  thus  inaugurated 
has,  to  a  great  extent,  been  laid  aside  by  the  present 
administration,  and  Friends,  in  common  with  the 
other  religious  bodies,  pretty  much  ousted  from  offi- 
cial connection  with  the  work,  will  not  be  regarded 
as  any  proof  of  failure  by  those  who  are  acquainted 
with  American  politics. 

"Statistical  returns  abundantly  demonstrate  that 
most  encouraging  progress  was  made  by  the  Indians, 
materially,  socially,  and  educationally,  under  Grant's 
regime.     Tv/o    Friends  are   still  retained  as  agents — 


214  Memories  of  Stanley  Piunphrey. 

Laban  J.  Miles,  who  has  charge  of  the  Kiowas  and 
Osages,  and  John  D.  Miles,  the  long-tried  and  very- 
successful  Agent  of  the  Cheyennes  and  Arapahoes. 
The  schools  under  these  two  Friends,  as  well  as  one 
in  the  Quapaw  Agency,  are  still  taught  by  members 
of  our  society.  Work  of  a  directly  religious  charac- 
ter is  being  prosecuted  more  earnestly  and  effectively 
than  ever  by  Elkanah  and  Irena  Beard  among  the 
Cheyennes,  by  Franklyn  and  Eliza  Elliott  among  the 
absentee  Shawnees  and  Pottowatomies,  by  Asa  and 
Emmeline  Tuttle  among  the  Shawnees  and  the  Mo- 
docs,  and  by  Jonathan  Ozbun  and  wife  among  the 
Osages. 

'^An  experience  which  has  ranged  over  eleven 
years,  and  which  has  brought  our  people  in  contact 
with  about  thirty  different  tribes,  in  every  shade  of 
semi-civilization  and  barbarism,  has  abundantly  il- 
lustrated the  power  of  love  and  justice  in  influenc- 
ing even  the  most  untutored  minds  ;  and  there  have 
not  been  wanting  striking  illustrations  of  the  Divine 
blessing  on  the  faithful  carrying  out  of  these  princi- 
ples in  times  of  difficulty  and  danger. 

''  It  was  after  travelling  a  day's  journey  from  the 
Kiowa  Agency,  and  on  ascending  into  the  valley  of 
the  Washita,  that  we  came  in  sight  of  the  Agency 
buildings  of  the  Wichita.  The  old  Indian  huts  are 
fast  being  replaced  by  log  houses.  We  called  on 
Wahloope,  a  Caddo  chief.  Five  years  ago  this  man 
attended  the  meeting  of  the  executive  committee  of 
Friends  at  Lawrence,  Kansas.  He  said  to  them,  *  I 
have  come  from  a  long  way  off.  I  came  to  find  a 
good  way  for  my  people.     We  want  you  to  try  hard 


Indian    Territory.  215 

to  help  us  into  the  good  wa.y.  We  do  not  want  to  do 
like  some  other  tribes,  who  delight  in  killing  and 
destroying ;  we  w^ant  to  learn  how  to  build  houses, 
raise  corn,  and  provide  for  our  wives  and  children 
that  they  may  be  happy.  I  know  my  young  men 
will  be  ready  to  do  their  part  in  building  houses  and 
farms  and  trying  to  be  good.  Many  of  the  wild  In- 
dians will  also  visit  me  to  hear  my  w^ords  and  see  my 
place.  If  I  have  a  good  house  and  farm,  comfor- 
table clothes,  and  a  happy  family,  it  will  have  a  great 
influence  on  them  to  turn  them  into  the  white  man's 
path  of  peace  and  civilization.'  He  went  on  to  ask 
that  they  might  be  protected  from  white  intruders, 
and  especially  from  the  curse  of  whiskey.  This 
man's  promise  has  been  faithfully  kept.  Not  only 
have  about  half  his  people  adopted  the  white  man's 
dress  and  the  white  man's  style  of  house,  but  they 
have  brought  into  cultivation  1700  acres  of  land, 
and  are  rapidly  becoming  self-supporting.  For  a 
considerable  period  before  our  visit  the  issue  of  ra- 
tions had  been  confined  to  beef  and  salt,  and  they 
had  been  grinding  corn  for  the  Indians  at  the 
Agency  mill  at  the  rate  of  eighty  bushels  a  week. 

*'Our  meeting  for  worship  with  the  Wichita  on 
the  Sabbath  day  was  solemn,  and  the  behaviour  and 
attention  all  we  could  desire.  Round  the  room  the 
Indians  stood,  sat,  and  squatted,  decked  with  their 
ornaments,  the  children  with  their  long  black  hair, 
well  combed,  filling  the  body  of  the  room.  Wah- 
loope  addressed  them,  and  so  did  Black  Beaver,  a 
Delaware  chief,  who  also  offered  a  very  feeling 
prayer  in  his  own  language.     Black    Beaver's   ser- 


2i6  Memories  of  Stajilcy  PumpJirey. 

mon  ran  in  this  fashion  : — '■  Life  with  us  all  is  getting 
shorter.  I  remember  when  the  Caddoes  had  large 
towns  and  the  Delawares  and  the  Wacoes.  Now  we 
are  few.  And  why  is  this  ?  It  is  for  our  sins,  my 
brothers,  for  our  sins.  I  fear  the  displeasure  of  the 
Lord  ;  but  w^hen  I  see  our  children  well  taught,  I 
hope  again.  Let  none  say  it  is  too  late  to  turn  to 
God.     Let  none  say  it  is  too  soon.' 

''  But  perhaps  no  tribe  has  made  more  astonishing 
progress  than  the  Modocs.  The  war  with  this  tribe, 
and  the  treacherous  assassination  of  General  Canby, 
are  still  matters  of  recent  history.  Their  long  and 
determined  resistance  in  the  lava  beds,  w^here  they 
hid  in  the  caverns,  cost  the  United  States  a  larger 
number  of  their  troops  than  there  were  Indians  in 
the  tribe  ;  and  Captain  Jack  and  his  followers  were 
at  last  wearied  out  rather  than  conquered.  The 
terrible  suffering  of  those  dark  days  the  Modoc 
children  even  now  can  hardly  be  persuaded  to  refer 
to.  Late  in  1873  they  were  removed  two  thousand 
miles  to  the  Indian  Territory,  and  the  remnant  of 
the  tribe  have  displayed  in  peace  much  of  the  same 
energy  and  determination  they  displayed  in  war. 
Bogus  Charley,  the  chief,  has  put  up  a  good-sized 
house  for  himself,  and  when  it  was  finished  he  built 
a  still  better  one  for  his  ponies.  Steamboat  Frank, 
another  prominent  member  of  the  tribe,  was  repair- 
ing his  chimney  w^hen  we  called  to  have  an  interview 
with  such  of  the  tribe  as  could  be  collected  under 
his  roof.  They  told  us  they  felt  like  leaving  their 
own  country  in  Oregon,  near  the  Pacific  coast,  but 
they  tried   not    to   think    of  it,   and  wanted  to  settle 


Indian    Territory,  21/ 

down  here.  They  liked  our  talk,  and  it  Vv'as  their 
wish  to  live  so  as  to  please  the  Great  Spirit.  All 
their  children  are  sent  to  school,  where  they  learn 
readily,  are  easily  satisfied,  and  give  very  little 
trouble. 

^'I  was  at  the  Quapaw  mission  at  Christmas,  and 
thoroughly  enjoyed  my  visit.  Kind  friends  in  New 
York  and  Baltimore  had  thought  of  the  Indian  chil- 
dren, and  wishing  to  make  them  happy  at  this  festive 
season,  sent  them  many  presents.  A  fir  tree  was 
brought  from  the  forest,  the  top  of  which  touched 
the  ceiling,  and  its  branches  spread  half  across  the 
room.  To  this  the  presents  were  attached,  and  the 
tree  was  lighted  up  with  many  tapers.  The  smaller 
children  sat  on  the  floor  beneath  its  boughs,  and  the 
larger  ones  round  the  room.  Several  of  the  parents 
and  other  interested  friends  were  present.  They  sang 
their  simple  hymns,  and  listened  attentively  while 
we  spoke  to  them.  It  would  have  done  the  hearts 
of  the  kind  donors  good  to  have  seen  how  the  little 
swarthy  faces  brightened  as  the  treasures  were 
handed  down.  Several  of  the  older  girls  had  made 
useful  presents  for  each  other,  and  their  English 
visitor  received  a  motto  beautifully  worked  by  eight 
girls  in  coloured  silks  ;  the  words  were,  '  In  God  we 
trust.'  They  all  have  jet  black  hair,  and  their  faces 
are  darker  than  a  gypsy's.  Their  heads  are  flat  be- 
hind, because  when  they  are  babies  they  are  strapped 
tight  against  a  board  instead  of  being  put  in  a  cradle, 
and  then  the  child  hangs  up  against  tlie  wall.  When 
their  mothers  carry  them  they  fasten  them  to  their 
backs,  baby's  face  looking  out  behind  ;  the  mother's 


2 1 8  Memories  of  Stanley  Piimphrey, 

hands  are  thus  at  liberty,  and  she  can  be  doing  some- 
thing at  the  same  time.  I  saw  a  little  girl  of  seven 
years  old  washing  socks  with  a  baby  strapped  to  her 
back.  When  Asa  and  Emmeline  Tuttle  came  here, 
seven  years  ago,  the  Ottowas  were  in  a  very  degraded 
state,  and  sadly  intemperate  ;  but  through  their  faith- 
ful labours  sobriety  has  been  restored  and  the  church 
revived.  One  of  the  Indians  who  was  converted  was 
laid  aside  with  severe  illness  ;  his  body  was  racked 
with  pain,  but  his  mind  was  at  rest.  *  While  one 
half  of  me  is  suffering  very  much,  the  other  half  is 
very  glad,'  was  his  mode  of  expressing  the  peace  in 
his  heart. 

''  The  wild,  warlike  tribes  in  the  south-west  of  the 
Indian  Territory,  w^hose  raids  have  long  been  the 
terror  of  settlers  near  the  Texas  frontier,  are  becom- 
ing greatly  changed.  Their  subsistence  is  still  in  the 
main  supplied  by  Government,  and  the  remainder  is 
procured  by  hunting.  Warriors  who  cared  for  noth- 
ing but  war  and  the  chase,  have  become  men  of 
peace.  Those  who  scorned  the  idea  of  cultivating 
the  soil,  are  clamouring  for  ploughs  and  spades. 
*  We  like  your  talk,'  said  Little  Crow,  the  Comanche 
chief,  after  our  conference  with  his  tribe.  *  We  want 
to  live  in  peace  ;  we  want  to  grow  corn,  raise  cattle, 
have  our  children  taught,  and  take  the  white  man's 
road.     This  is  the  mind  of  us  all.' 

"'We  are  not  going  to  think  of  war  anymore,' 
said  Big  Mouth,  the  stalwart  chief  of  the  Arapahoes, 
after  hugging  us  in  his  strong  arms.  *  The  Sioux 
are  foolish  to  think  of  fighting.  Let  them  come  and 
live  peaceably  in  the  Indian  Territory.     I  can  say  of 


India7t   Territory.  219 

all  here,  they  are  my  brothers  ;  give  us  ploughs,  and 
let  us  get  to  work.'  " 

Big  Horse,  the  Cheyenne  chief,  also  threw  his 
arms  around  Stanley  Pumphrey's  neck,  and  begged 
the  Government  would  send  them  wagons  and  imple- 
ments of  husbandry.  Colonel  Misner  was  admiring  a 
medal  which  had  been  presented  to  another  chief 
named  Whirlwind.  '*  Yes,"  replied  Whirlwind,  "it 
is  a  nice  medal  ;  but  I  cannot  understand  one  thing. 
You  see  it  shows  on  it  ploughs,  and  spades,  and  hoes, 
and  Washington  promised  to  send  a  heap  of  them, 
but  they  have  never  come,  and  w^e  think  our  great 
father  ought  to  keep  his  word." 

Howling  Wolf  thus  gave  his  experience  : — ''  I  used 
to  think  sometimes  while  rambling  around,  and  raid- 
ing with  my  comrades,  that  in  some  things  I  was 
doing  w^rong,  for  I  knew  a  little  of  God.  I  did  not 
think  it  wrong  to  raid  and  fight — which  I  now  think 
to  be  wrong — for  I  was  an  Indian,  and  I  thought 
and  acted  as  an  Indian.  I  wanted  to  be  leader,  and 
went  on  in  sins,  for  which  I  was  taken  prisoner,  and 
with  others  sent  to  St.  Augustine.  There  I  learned 
much  more  of  the  Great  Spirit.  God  show^ed  me 
that  I  had  done  very  wrong,  and  I  wanted  to  throw 
away  all  my  bad  deeds.  I  asked  God  to  take  away 
my  bad  heart  and  give  me  a  good  heart.  He  heard 
me,  and  gave  me  a  good  heart,  and  then  I  felt 
happy.  I  threw  av/ay  my  old  road,  and  took  the  road 
of  the  Bible,  and  now  I  am  holding  on  to  that  good 
road.  Since  coining  here  I  talk  to  the  boys  and 
girls  and  to  the  people  in  the  camp  about  God's  road. 
It  makes  me  so  happy  to  go  in  that  good  road." 


220  Memories  of  Stanley  Ptunphrey. 

At  the  close  of  the  school  session,  when  the  par- 
ents came  for  their  children,  the  Agent  told  them 
how  thankful  he  was  to  be  able  to  restore  them  all 
in  good  health.  Horse-Back,  a  Comanche  chief,  re- 
plied, speaking  gratefully  of  the  kind  care  of  the 
children,  and  also  acknowledging  his  gratitude  to 
a  higher  power.  ''Are  you  thinking  of  the  sun?" 
enquired  the  interpreter.  "  No,"  answered  Horse- 
back, "  we  must  look  higher  than  that ;  to  the  Great 
Spirit  w^ho  made  the  sun." 

Stanley  Pumphrey  gives  the  following  record  of  a 
meeting  held  by  James  M.  Haworth  among  these 
wild  Indians,  who  a  year  or  two  ago  used  to  run 
away  with  fright,  and  tremble  with  superstitious 
fear,  when  the  guidance  and  blessing  of  the  Great 
Spirit  was  invoked,  but  who  now  bow  their  heads  in 
reverence.  "When  we  drove  up  to  White  Wolf's 
camp,  last  Sabbath,  we  found  the  prairie  on  fire 
and  his  corral  burning.  He  and  several  of  his  peo- 
ple were  trying  to  extinguish  the  fire,  and  we  got 
down  and  helped  them.  After  getting  the  fire  out,  I 
told  White  Wolf  we  had  come  to  have  a  meeting  in 
his  camp  if  he  was  willing,  but  I  suppose  after  work- 
ing so  hard  they  would  be  tired,  and  we  had  better 
defer  it.  'No,  no,'  he  said,  'come  now.'  They 
soon  collected  the  people,  and  we  had  a  blessed  time. 
We  spoke  of  the  scene  in  which  we  had  just  taken 
part  ;  the  heart  of  man  was  compared  to  the  corral 
in  danger,  and  sin  to  the  consuming  fire.  The  ap- 
plication was  quickly  understood.  White  Wolf 
spoke,  with  tears  in  his  eyes:  'I  did  not  formerly 
think    much    about    these    things,    and    never   have 


Indian    Tej'ritory.  221 

made  such  a  talk  as  this  before.  I  have  been  think- 
ing for  some  time  and  asking  the  Great  Spirit  to 
guide  my  mind  aright  and  to  give  me  a  good  heart. 
I  want  to  travel  on  the  road  that  will  lead  to  the 
happy  home  of  the  Great  Spirit,  and  not  go  on  the 
road  that  leads  to  the  home  of  misery  of  the  great 
bad  spirit.  Every  night  and  morning  I  ask  the  Great 
Spirit  to  have  mercy  on  me  and  on  my  people,  and 
to  show  us  what  He  would  have  us  do.'  So  saying, 
White  Wolf  threw  his  arms  round  James  M.  Haworth 
and  pressed  him  to  his  breast. 

*' James  M.  Haworth  was  appointed,  in  1873,  to 
the  charge  of  the  Kiowas  and  Comanches,  two  wild 
and  warlike  tribes  located  near  the  northern  line  of 
Texas.  To  the  inhabitants  of  that  large  cattle -raising 
State  these  Indians  gave  great  trouble  by  their  fre- 
quent raids.  So  irresistible  was  the  temptation  to  cross 
the  border  and  drive  off  the  cattle  that  Satanta,  one  of 
their  chiefs,  confessed  his  entire  inability  to  control 
the  young  men,  and  told  the  great  father  at  Washing- 
ton that  the  readiest  way  to  save  trouble  would  be  to 
move  Texas  farther  off.  Satanta  shortly  succumbed 
to  the  temptation  himself,  and  he  and  his  companion. 
Big  Tree,  were,  for  certain  depredations  and  other 
misdeeds,  clearly  proved  against  them,  sent  prisoners 
to  Florida.  The  chiefs  were  powerful  fellows,  with 
much  natural  intelligence,  and  were  popular  with  their 
tribe,  and  their  release  was  clamorously  demanded  of 
the  Agent.  The  Government,  wishing  to  conciliate 
them,  gave  them  to  expect  that  their  desire  should  be 
granted,  but  difficulties  were  raised  by  the  authorities 
in  Texas,  and  the  chiefs  were  still  held  prisoners. 


222  Memories  of  Stanley  Pinnphrey. 

"  While  the  Kiowas  were  chafing  under  the  disap- 
pointment, and  galled  at  what  seemed  to  them  the 
broken  faith  of  the  Government,  a  report,  which  was 
wholly  unauthorized,  was  brought  to  them,  that  if 
they  would  go  to  the  Agency  at  a  certain  day,  Sa- 
tanta  would  be  released.  At  the  given  time,  almost 
the  whole  tribe  came  down,  and  the  hundreds  of 
'braves,'  mounted  on  their  ponies,  with  faces  paint- 
ed, and  decked  out  with  feathers  and  other  savage 
adornments,  looked  very  imposing.  The  Agent  met 
them  in  a  friendly  manner,  and  a  Council  was  ar- 
ranged to  be  held  the  next  day.  Meanwhile,  some 
inkling  of  the  actual  state  of  things  reached  them, 
and  they  sent  to  their  Council  war-chiefs  only,  who 
came  fully  armed,  and  sat  with  their  bows  strung 
and  their  arrows  in  their  hands. 

'*  It  was  a  serious  thing  to  have  to  meet  such  a 
company  with  intelligence  that  would  exasperate 
them  ;  but  James  M.  Haworth  made  his  statement 
with  a  straightforwardness  that  convinced  them  that 
he,  at  least,  was  not  to  blame  ;  and  Big-Bow,  the 
leader,  advancing,  embraced  him  and  gave  his  hand, 
saying  that  while  they  had  been  deceived  and  were 
disappointed,  they  believed  the  Agent's  heart  was 
right,  and  warm,  and  true.  The  others  then  came 
forward  and  gave  their  hands,  and  so  the  Council 
closed.  The  Kiowas  now  went  up  to  the  neighbour- 
ing military  post,  and  while  there  met  Avith  some 
mischievous  person  who  told  them  that  Haworth  was 
trifling  with  and  deceiving  them,  and  showed  them, 
in  proof,  an  extract"  from  a  Texas  paper,  in  which  it 
was  asserted  that  the  chiefs  would  never  be  released 


Indian    Territory.  223 

except  on  certain  conditions,  which  were  named,  and 
which  the  Indians  knew  w^ould  be  out  of  their  power 
to  ratify.  This  exasperated  them  exceedingly,  and 
they  returned  to  the  Agent  in  a  rage.  He  found  it 
hard  to  quiet  them,  and  the  next  day,  when  the  usual 
rations  were  being  distributed,  they  again  became 
fierce,  and  made  demands  which  his  duty  as  a  United 
States  officer  forbade  him  to  comply  w^ith. 

'^  Upon  this  they  grew  so  clamorous  and  threaten- 
ing that  the  employes,  believing  that  mischief  was 
intended,  begged  him  to  send  to  the  fort  for  a  de- 
tachment of  troops.  This,  however,  James  M.  Ha- 
worth  refused  to  do  :  he  was  among  the  Indians 
specially  to  represent  the  principles  of  peace,  and 
to  those  principles  he  determined  that  he  would  be 
true,  and  would  commit  his  life  to  the  protection  of 
the  Lord.  He  still  steadily  refused  the  demands  of 
the  Indians,  and,  abashed  by  his  courage  or  restrained 
by  a  higher  power,  they  became  quieter,  and  shortly 
withdrew.  That  it  was  no  imaginary  danger  in 
which  he  had  been  placed  was  shown  by  the  fact 
that  an  old  Comanche  chief,  who  was  friendly  to 
him,  went  of  his  own  accord  to  the  fort  to  beg  the 
officer  to  come  down  with  soldiers  to  protect  him. 

"A  few  days  after,  information  reached  James  M. 
Haworth  that  the  Kiowas  had  held  a  Council  and 
decided  to  take  him  prisoner  and  keep  him  as  a  host- 
age for  the  return  of  their  chiefs.  He  was  now  again 
urged  to  seek  the  protection  of  the  fort,  but  refused, 
and  waited  the  issue.  The  next  evening  White  Horse 
and  Fast  Wolf,  two  of  the  worst  of  the  Indians,  with 
three  others,  made  their  appearance  at  the  Agency, 


224  Memories  of  Stanley  Pumphrey. 

armed,  and  with  other  indications  suggestive  of  evil 
intent.  James  M.  Haworth,  however,  met  them 
cordially,  gave  them  a  good  supper,  had  his  usual 
family  worship  along  with  them,  and  prepared  them 
beds  for  the  night,  not  giving  them  the  smallest  in- 
dication that  he  knew  the  object  of  their  visit.  They 
returned  in  the  morning,  after  receiving  other  kind- 
nesses, and  reported  to  their  people,  in  Indian /^z-- 
lance,  that  '  Simpoquodle's  *  medicine  was  too  strong 
for  them.' 

"  '■  My  heart  is  humbled  with  gratitude  and  thanks- 
giving to  God,'  writes  James  M.  Haworth,  'when  I 
reviev/  the  many  trying  scenes  through  which  I  was 
safely  covered  by  the  shadow  of  His  wings.  He  did 
so  mercifully  care  for  me  and  the  dear  ones  associ- 
ated with  me  in  that  work.  His  love  and  protecting 
care  were  ever  near  us,  and  underneath  were  the 
Everlasting  Arms.' 

**  The  Kiowas  and  Apaches  have  interesting  tra- 
ditions respecting  the  creation  and  deluge.  They 
worship  a  Spirit  whom  they  call  the  Great  Kiowa, 
whose  visible  manifestation  is  in  the  Pleiades.  He 
made  the  world,  then  he  put  animals  upon  it,  and 
lastly  man.  He  struck  a  tree,  and  men  and  women 
came  out.  They  were  not  rightly  formed,  so  he 
struck  it  again,  and  others  came  out  who  were  right. 
Men  displeased  the  Great  Kiowa,  and  he  over- 
whelmed them  with  a  flood  of  water.  One  man  w^as 
saved.  He  looked  very  lonely,  so  the  Kiowa  took 
compassion  upon  him,  cut  him  in  two,  and  of  the 

*  This  was  their  name  for  James  M.  Haworth ;  it  signifies  Red 
Beard. 


Indian   Territory.  225 

halves  made  man  and  woman.  They  believe  in 
future  rewards  and  punishments,  but  their  heaven 
has  little  of  a  spiritual  character.  The  earth  is  their 
mother,  and  when  the  last  Kiowa  is  gone,  it  will 
burn  up  with  grief.  The  Indians  under  the  care  of 
the  Agency  at  Fort  Sill  are  three  of  the  wildest  tribes, 
the  Kiowas,  the  Comanches,  and  the  Apaches.  The 
Indians  say,  '  Fort  Sill  is  bad  medicine  for  us.'  We 
spent  an  afternoon  and  evening  at  the  school,  where 
about  seventy  children  are  boarded  and  taught, 
under  the  care  of  an  English  Friend,  Alfred  Stand- 
ing, and  his  wife. 

''  After  our  return  we  started  in  another  direction, 
to  visit  the  camp  of  E-sa-bo-cum,  a  Kiowa  chief.  We 
found  the  tents  pitched  by  a  wood-skirted  stream, 
with  a  meadow-like  portion  of  prairie  in  the  front 
where  their  horses  could  range  and  graze.  There 
were  about  a  dozen  wigwams.  The  framework  is 
formed  of  poles,  meeting  at  the  top  and  bound  to- 
gether at  the  top  with  thongs  of  hide.  Over  these 
are  thrown  buffalo  skins  sewn  together.  An  opening 
at  the  top  lets  out  the  smoke  ;  a  hole  in  the  skin 
covered  by  a  loose  flap  lets  in  the  occupants.  You 
enter  without  giving  any  alarm,  offer  your  hand  and 
say  '  How  do  ? '  which  they  answer,  *  How,  how,'  that 
being  as  far  as  they  have  learned  the  sentence.  The 
little  children  alone  manifest  any  uneasiness  at  the 
approach  of  the  white  stranger,  and  hide  behind  their 
mothers.  The  youngest  *  papoose '  is  strapped  to  a 
flat  board  to  be  carried  on  the  mother's  back.  There 
is  a  fire  on  the  floor  in  the  centre,  and  while  you  sit 
you  are  out  of  the  way  of  the  smoke,  and  feel  warm 
10* 


226  Memories  of  Stanley  Pumphrey. 

and  comfortable.  The  mattresses  are  round,  smooth 
sticks,  fastened  together  with  thongs,  over  which  the 
buffalo  robe  is  thrown.  I  have  tried  many  a  more 
uneasy  resting-place.  A  large  proportion  of  the  tribe 
have  sixty  days'  leave  of  absence,  and  are  therefore 
gone  to  hunt  the  buffalo.  Their  Government  rations 
consist  of  \\  pounds  of  beef  per  day  for  each  man, 
woman,  and  child  ;  \  pound  of  fiour  ;  and  with  every 
150  pounds  of  beef  they  receive  8  pounds  of  sugar,  5 
of  salt  and  soap,  4  pounds  of  coffee,  and  2\  of  to- 
bacco and  soda.  The  allowance  of  meat  is  purposely 
large,  in  consideration  of  their  previous  mode  of  life, 
Much  suffering  has  been  repeatedly  caused  to  these 
wards  of  the  Government,  who  have  been  driven  from 
their  original  lands,  by  the  irregular  supply  of  their 
food. 

"  The  tribes  have  different  languages  ;  though 
some,  like  the  Choctaws  and  Chickasaws,  are  so 
closely  allied  that  they  can  understand  each  other. 
They  have,  however,  all  of  them  a  common  language 
of  signs  by  which  they  communicate,  and  they  may 
sometimes  be  seen  talking  to  each  other  with  their 
hands  by  the  hour  at  a  time.  The  Cheyennes  make 
great  use  of  this  sign  language,  even  when  they  are 
speaking,  and  it  was  very  intersting  to  watch  the  an- 
imated gestures  of  Big  Mouth  while  holding  forth. 
Our  young  interpreter,  after  officiating  for  us  for  an 
hour,  complained  that  his  arms  were  very  tired. 

'■'•  On  leaving  the  Cheyennes  we  were  obliged  to 
camp  out,  as  we  had  a  journey  of  eighty  miles 
through  the  prairie  and  across  the  north  fork  of  the 
Canadian   River.     Amos,  a  coloured   man,   was  our 


Indian   Territory.  22/ 

guide.  We  found  a  level  place,  sheltered  with  trees, 
and  here  a  fire  was  soon  lit.  Amos  boiled  our  coffee, 
and  we  were  soon  enjoying  our  supper.  We  sat  and 
talked  for  a  coupls  of  hours,  our  guide  telling  stories 
about  the  animals  of  the  district.  I  repeated  the 
34th  Psalm  and  Addison's  Traveller's  Hymn.  Then 
we  spread  our  buffalo  robes  and  blankets,  rolled  up 
our  overcoats  as  pillows,  and  laid  down  to  rest.  I 
slept  well  until  after  one  o'clock,  roused  to  find  our 
fire  burning  low,  and  got  up  to  gather  fresh  wood 
and  logs.  The  flames  soon  rose  up  and  lighted  our 
camp,  and  showed  where  my  companions  were  sleep- 
ing peacefully.  Amos  had  placed  himself  within  a 
foot  of  the  fire,  and  I  had  to  take  care  that  the  stray- 
ing embers  did  not  burn  his  blanket.  He  appreci- 
ated my  attention,  showed  his  dusky  face  from  be- 
hind the  folds  of  his  blanket,  observed  '  I  call  this 
real  splendid,'  and  went  off  to  sleep  again. 

'"'•  The  moon  had  now  risen,  and  lighted  up  the 
river  as  it  curved  away  beneath  the  trees.  As  I  lay 
down  again,  the  Pleiades  were  right  overhead.  I 
thought  how  the  old  natives  of  the  land  had  revered 
them  as  their  God,  and  how  true  were  the  words 
spoken  lately  by  one  of  them,  *  We  must  look  higher.' 
I  thought  too  of  Jacob — 

•'  As  he  from  Esau  fled 
To  Padanaram,  in  the  fields  of  Luz  ; 
Dreammg  by  night  under  the  open  sky, 
And  waking  cried,  '  This  is  the  gate  of  heaven.* 

'■'■  I  remembered  that  the  God  of  Jacob  was  my 
God,  and  I  believed  the  promise  made  to  the  Patri- 


228  Memories  of  Stanley  Pumphrey. 

arch  had  been  mercifully  renewed  to  me  :  '  I  will  be 
with  thee  and  will  keep  thee  in  all  places  whither 
thou  goest,  and  will  bring  thee  again  to  thine  own 
land,  for  I  will  not  leave  thee  until  I  have  done  that 
which  I  have  spoken  to  thee  of.'  " 

At  the  Pottawatomie  Agency,  which  Stanley  Pum- 
phrey afterwards  visited,  he  says  :  ''  The  Indians 
took  a  fancy  to  me,  and  wanted  to  know  if  I  could 
stay  with  them  always.  Their  chief  said  my  words 
would  be  '  repeated  to  every  member  of  the  tribe  and 
be  handed  down  for  a  hundred  years.'  He  gave  me 
a  war  club  and  a  handsome  piece  of  bead-work  in 
token  of  his  goodwill. 

''  When  we  had  crossed  to  Kansas,  the  marks  of 
civilization  multiplied.  Things  often  look  larger  in 
the  mist  and  fairer  in  the  gloaming,  but  as  I  saw  the 
road  fenced  on  either  hand,  crossed  a  bridge,  instead 
of  being  paddled  across  a  river  in  the  scooped  trunk 
of  a  tree,  passed  a  well-tended  flock  of  sheep,  and 
saw  houses  with  lights  in  their  windows,  I  seemed  to 
catch  glimpses  again  of  domestic  comfort,  and  I  saw 
that  a  cultured  country  excels  a  wilderness  as  light 
excels  darkness. 

"  Our  trip  in  the  Indian  Territory  was  over.  The 
Lord  had  enabled  us  to  scatter  much  seed  among  its 
many  tribes.  He  had  kept  us  safe  in  all  our  w^eary 
journey.  These  Indians  are  like  children  growing 
up,  and  they  need  kind,  wise,  firm,  and  energetic 
care  for  years  to  come.  With  such  care,  what  has 
been  accomplished  for  the  Cherokees  and  Creeks 
may  also  be  accomplished  for  them  all,  and  the  terri- 
tory be   occupied  as    an   Indian   confederation,   all 


Indian   Territory.  229 

speaking  the  same  language  and  enjoying  the  bless- 
ings of  Christianity  and  civilization  under  a  united 
Government. 

"  Two  hundred  years  ago,  within  the  bounds  of 
the  city  of  Philadelphia,  occurred  a  scene  to  which 
the  poet  and  the  painter,  the  statesman  and  historian, 
have  alike  delighted  to  do  honour.  Beneath  the  elm 
tree  of  Shackamaxon,  William  Penn  enunciated  those 
pure  and  holy  principles  which  he  had  learned  from 
the  Sermon  on  the  Mount.  Having  faith  in  the  uni- 
versal applicability  of  these  principles,  he  tried  '  the 
holy  experiment '  of  putting  them  in  practice  towards 
the  white  man  and  the  red  man  alike.  '  We  meet,' 
he  said,  *  on  the  broad  pathway  of  faith  and  goodwill, 
where  no  advantage  is  to  be  taken  on  either  side,  but 
all  is  to  be  openness,  brotherhood,  and  love.' 

"  The  treaty  that  was  there  signed  was  kept.  *  The 
only  treaty,' Voltaire  said,  *  made  without  an  oath, 
and  the  only  one  that  was  never  broken.'  Bancroft 
has  done  justice  to  our  relations  with  the  Indian 
tribes,  and  records  that  no  drop  of  Quaker  blood 
was  ever  shed  by  them.  They  still  look  on  us  as 
their  friends.  A  Quaker  is  received  by  them  with 
confidence  because  he  is  a  Quaker.  '  The  Quakers 
are  our  friends,'  said  Black  Beaver,  of  the  Delawares, 
in  1872.  *  Their  fathers  and  ours  bound  themselves 
to  be  friends  for  ever.  Their  treaty  was  never  broken. 
The  Indians  have  never  taken  any  Quaker's  blood, 
and  the  Quakers  have  always  been  true  friends  to  the 
Indians.  Our  grandfather  at  Washington  knew  this, 
and  for  this  reason  has  sent  them  among  us.  He  knew 
that  they  would  do  right  by  his  red  grandchildren.* 


230  Memories  of  Stanley  Piimphrey. 

A  prominent  share  in  the  care  of  the  Indians  has 
been  assigned  to  us.  It  is  a  great  trust.  The  Chief 
Clerk  of  Indian  affairs  bears  testimony  that  we  ac- 
cept it  '  as  a  great  trust,'  and  I  am  thankful  to  know 
that  the  encomium  is  merited.  We  cannot  be  too 
earnest  in  the  right  use  of  means.  The  old  maxim, 
'civilize  first,  then  try  to  Christianize,'  must  be 
thrown  away,  and  we  must  accept  the  axiom  that 
*  Christianity  is  at  once  the  shortest  road  to  civili- 
zation, and  the  best  security  for  its  maintenance.' 
We  cannot  be  too  careful  in  our  choice  of  men.  To 
quote  the  words  of  my  friend  Joel  Bean,  when  writ- 
ing on  this  subject,  '  our  eye  must  be  kept  single, 
our  object  pure,  and  our  trust  fixed  upon  the  Lord. 
We  need  divine  counsel  to  direct  ;  and  men  that  can 
stand  like  flint  against  temptation,  men  of  clean 
hands  and  pure  heart,  to  represent  a  holy  cause 
among  a  benighted  people.'  " 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 


IOWA. 


Very  wisely  Stanley  Pumphrey  concluded  to  come 
home  for  a  short  change  and  comparative  rest  in  the 
midst  of  his  American  labours.  He  had  been  work- 
ing persistently  for  many  months,  and  the  continual 
exercise  of  mind  in  attending  so  many  meetings  and 
visiting  so  many  scenes  made  a  pause  essential.  He 
arrived  in  England  the  middle  of  May,  1877.  He 
was  evidently  worn  with  all  he  had  undergone,  and 
hastened  to  those  he  loved  at  Worcester.  Attending 
the  usual  week-day  morning  meeting  there,  he  took 
for  his  text  the  query  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  to 
His  disciples  when  they  returned  to  Him  after  their 
first  great  missionary  journey,  *'  Lacked  ye  any- 
thing ? "  and  with  tears  in  his  eyes  and  his  voice 
quivering  with  emotion,  he  joyfully  gave  his  own 
experience  in  the  answer,  ^'  Nothing,  Lord."  He  re- 
viewed some  of  his  American  experiences,  the  oc- 
casional want  of  sympathy,  the  much  more  frequent 
welcome  that  had  so  cordially  been  given  him,  the 
rough  life  in  the  Indian  Territory,  the  vicissitudes  of 
climate  and  of  travel,  and  yet  most  emphatically 
true  was  it  that  through  all  /le  had  lacked  nothing, 
*'  It  always  is  and  always  will  be  true,"  he  exclaimed, 


232  Memories  of  Stanley  Pu^nphrey. 

**  that  when  the  Lord  sends  forth  His  servants  He 
will  abundantly  supply  all  their  need." 

From  Worcester  Stanley  Pumphrey  proceeded  to 
meet  his  beloved  friend  Sarah  Grubb,  to  whom  he 
was  betrothed,  and  thence  proceeded  to  the  Yearly 
Meeting  of  Friends  in  London. 

At  the  Yearly  Meeting  he  interested  himself  very 
much  in  pleading  for  Friends  in  North  Carolina  and 
Tennessee,  and  a  subscription  was  set  on  foot  to  as- 
sist in  the  schools  and  mission  work  in  those  States 
and  in  the  repair  of  the  dilapidated  Meeting  Houses. 
He  also  gave  an  outline  of  his  visit  to  the  Indian 
Territory,  and  some  account  of  the  lectures  on 
Friends'  principles  which  he  had  given  in  various 
parts  of  America.  At  the  conclusion  of  the  Yearly 
Meeting  he  gave  a  vigorous  address  on  the  temper- 
ance question,  showing  how  much  ahead  of  England 
America  was  at  that  time,  in  energetic  effort  to  re- 
strain the  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors  and  to  dis- 
countenance the  use  of  stimulants  among  the  mem- 
bers of  Christian  churches. 

After  Yearly  Meeting,  he  paid  rapid  visits  in  Suf- 
folk, Kent,  Yorkshire,  and  Oxfordshire,  and  attended 
the  Western  Quarterly  Meeting  of  the  Society  of 
Friends  at  Cirencester.  Well  pleased  to  be  again 
among  so  many  old  acquaintances,  he  was  actively 
engaged  in  witnessing  for  Christ,  and  it  was  evident 
to  his  friends  that  his  gift  in  the  ministry  of  the 
Gospel  had  enlarged  with  use. 

At  Cirencester  and  two  or  three  other  places  he 
gave  a  lecture  on  the  North  American  Indians,  and 
then  again  repaired  to  Sudbury,  in  Suffolk,  where  he 


Iowa.  233 

was  married  to  Sarah,  the  eldest  daughter  of  Jonathan 
Grubb,  on  the  17th  of  July.  Their  wedding  tour  was 
in  Cornwall,  among  scenes  of  natural  beauty  that 
Stanley  had  enjoyed  years  before  ;  and  on  the  15th 
of  August  he  sailed  again  for  America,  with  his  be- 
loved wife. 

The  final  leave-taking  at  Worcester  was  a  sorrowful 
one.  His  much  loved  sister,  Helen,  was  evidently 
sinking  in  consumption,  and  there  was  no  human 
probability  of  his  ever  seeing  her  again  on  earth. 
The  family  and  relatives  gathered  for  prayer  in  the 
drawing-room  at  his  own  house  at  41,  Britannia- 
square.  He  commended  all  he  was  leaving  to  the 
protecting  care  of  God  ;  and  his  invalid  sister  also 
offered  one  of  those  near-heaven  prayers  that  mark 
close  communion  with  our  Father  in  heaven.  With 
tears  they  bid  each  other  farewell  in  the  Lord,  the 
sister  so  soon  to  be  called  up  higher,  the  brother 
turning  his  face  steadfastly  to  the  work  to  which  the 
Lord  was  calling  him  in  Iowa. 

The  Friends  of  Iowa  Yearly  Meeting  are  chiefly  to 
be  found  in  the  southern  half  of  the  State,  though 
there  is  one  Quarterly  Meeting  in  the  north-east 
corner,  and  another  small  one  in  Minnesota.  ''  There 
is  no  State  in  which  I  travelled,"  Stanley  Pumphrey 
observes,  "that  impressed  me  as  more  strikingly  il- 
lustrating the  rapid  development  of  America  than 
the  State  of  Iowa.  Forty  years  ago  it  was  all  but 
unbroken  prairie  ;  now  it  has  large  cities,  many  fail- 
roads,  universities,  and  other  public  institutions,  and 
something  like  a  million  and  a  half  of  people.  Of 
course  a  prairie  country  has  facilities  for  rapid  de- 


234  Memories  of  Stanley  Pumphrey, 

velopment  such  as  are  not  enjoyed  by  a  forest 
country,  where  there  is  so  much  to  clear  out  of  the 
way." 

The  Friends'  Yearly  Meeting  for  the  State  of  Iowa 
commenced  on  the  5th  September,  1877.  The  house 
in  which  it  was  held  is  a  large  two-storied  brick 
building,  standing  in  a  grove  about  a  mile  from  Os- 
kaloosa.  The  upstairs  room  is  occupied  by  the  wo- 
men, the  downstairs  room  by  the  men.  Each  room 
seats  comfortably  about  a  thousand  persons.  A 
meeting  for  worship  was  held  at  the  commence- 
ment, in  which  the  Friends  from  England  were  en- 
gaged in  ministry,  Walter  Robson,  Helen  Balkwill, 
and  Susan  Doyle  being  also  present  from  this  side 
the  Atlantic.  A  warm  welcome  was  given  to  the 
visitors,  Joel  Bean  acting  as  clerk.  The  reports  that 
came  up  from  the  subordinate  meetings  were  not  al- 
together satisfactory.  There  was  evident  disunity  in 
some  districts  ;  and  amid  the  pressure  of  the  times 
there  appeared  to  be  laxity  in  too  many  families  in 
regard  to  family  worship.  The  Yearly  Meeting  sent 
down  urgent  advice  on  this  head,  reiterating  the 
well-known  testimony  of  the  Society  on  the  subject. 
'*  We  esteem  it  a  duty  incumbent  on  us  to  pray  with 
and  for,  to  teach,  instruct,  and  admonish  those  in 
and  belonging  to  our  families,  this  being  a  command 
of  the  Lord."  On  the  other  hand,  much  earnest  life 
was  manifested  in  many  meetings,  and  many  of  the 
young  people  had  lately  given  themselves  to  the 
Lord  and  were  devoting  themselves  to  His  service. 
The  membership  within  the  compas  of  Iowa  Yearly 
Meeting  was  8146,  and  of  this  number  only  six  mem- 


Iowa.  235 

bers  were  reported  as  having  used  intoxicating  drinks, 
and  the  number  addicted  to  the  use  of  tobacco  was 
on  the  decline.  A  coloured  brother,  Horatio  Nelson 
Rankin,  the  director  of  the  West  Tennessee  Univers- 
ity at  Memphis,  pleaded  for  the  education  of  the 
Freedmen  ;  and  John  Frederick  Hansen  and  Stanley 
Pumphrey  advocated  the  foreign  missionary  work, 
the  fulfilment  of  the  loving  charge  of  the  Saviour  to 
preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature.  One  of  the 
most  stirring  sittings  of  the  Yearly  Meeting  w^as  on 
higher  education.  One  minister  referred  in  touch- 
ing language  to  his  own  scanty  education  and  to  his 
sense  of  the  continual  disadvantage  under  which  he 
laboured  in  consequence.  He  felt  that  his  usefulness 
might  have  been  so  much  greater  if  he  had  received 
a  better  education  ;  and  the  work  of  the  Lord  de- 
manded  the  exercise  of  all  our  powers  at  their  best. 
God  can  and  does  make  use  of  an  ignorant  man  who 
consecrates  himself  to  His  service  ;  but  consecrated 
intelligence  is  much  better,  and  in  these  days  of  ad- 
vanced education  has  become  essential. 

The  Yearly  Meeting  concluded  with  a  time  of 
special  blessing.  The  grey-headed  fathers  of  the 
church  had  laboured  together  with  the  sons  in  loving 
fellowship,  and  parted  from  one  another  trusting 
that  through  the  grace  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  they 
were  entering  upon  a  year  of  better  and  more  fruit- 
ful service. 

Stanley  and  Sarah  Pumphrey  afterwards  visited  a 
few  places  in  Minnesota.  The  Friends  of  Howard 
Lake,  not  getting  more  than  two  or  three  visits  a 
year,  appreciate  the  company  of  strangers  all  the 


236  Memories  of  Stanley  Pumphrey. 

more.  The  evening  meetings  were  consequently- 
crowded  with  an  attentive  and  appreciative  audience. 
Winneshiek  is  another  remote  Quarterly  Meeting 
which  Stanley  visited  alone.  The  road  was  very- 
rough  where  it  was  stony,  and  in  other  places  miry 
in  the  extreme.  The  driving  resembled  that  of  the 
son  of  Nimshi,  and  both  driver  and  visitor  were  tre- 
mendously bespattered  with  mud  before  they  reached 
their  destination.  The  wheat  crop  in  these  parts 
was  almost  a  complete  failure  that  year,  so  that 
nearly  half  of  it  was  not  cut,  but  simply  burnt  off  the 
ground.  Of  course  this  caused  much  depression 
among  the  people,  and  to  many  it  was  ruinous. 

In  Bangor  Quarterly  Meeting  there  were  eighteen 
recorded  ministers,  several  of  them  being  young  men 
in  their  prime,  whose  discourses  were  probably 
lengthy.  On  arriving  at  one  of  their  meetings, 
Stanley  Pumphrey  found  the  following  message 
chalked  on  the  black-board  which  was  used  in  the 
Sabbath  school : — 

"  Ministers  please  notice, 
We,  us,  and  Co.,  and  others  say, 
Have  your  sermons  short  and  sweet  next  tinae ; 
Don't  swing  on  so  long  ; 
We  get  tired ; 
Don't  forget  it." 

Thence  Stanley  went  over  to  Stavangar,  which  is 
the  principal  settlement  of  Norwegian  Friends  in 
America  ;  indeed  there  are  more  friends  here  now 
than  at  the  original  Stavangar.  They  occupy  a  tract 
of  country  about  six  miles  long  and  two  wide,  and 


Iowa.  237 

most  of  them  live  on  their  own  farms.  They  are 
well-to-do  and  industrious,  and  stand  well  among 
their  neighbours.  Long  before  the  meeting  they 
began  to  come,  and  by  ten  o'clock  the  house  was 
filled.  Sarah  B.  Satterthwaite  of  Allonby,  and  Marv 
White  of  Glasgow  were  also  present  and  took  part. 
*'  There  w^as  a  very  blessed  sense  of  God's  presence, 
and  I  knelt  down  in  thanksgiving  and  prayer.  Then 
I  rose  to  speak,  and  Soren  Olesen  stood  up  beside 
me  to  translate  into  Norwegian.  M)^  heart  was  so 
full,  I  found  it  quite  difficult  to  speak,  but  Soren 
translated  for  me  well.  He  did  not  like  to  have  more 
than  about  ten  words  given  him  at  once.  We  had 
two  or  three  addresses  from  Norway  Friends,  and 
Andrew  Olesen  knelt  in  prayer.  At  the  close  they 
all  gathered  round  to  shake  hands,  and  many  made 
enquiries  in  their  broken  English  about  Friends  they 
had  known." 

On  Stanley  and  Sarah  Pumphrey's  second  visit  to 
Iowa,  in  1878,  they  also  attended  the  Yearly  Meeting 
at  Oskaloosa.  At  that  time  they  were  rejoiced  to 
meet  their  English  friends,  J.  B.  Braithwaite  and 
Richard  Littleboy,  Joseph  J.  Dymond  and  George 
Tatham.  The  sittings  opened  Vv'ith  large  meetings 
for  worship.  John  Scott  of  Baltimore,  w^ho  was  just 
returning  from  a  visit  to  Oregon  and  California, 
commenced  the  meeting  with  prayer,  and  then 
Joseph  J.  Dymond  spoke  on  the  words  of  our 
Saviour's  prayer,  ''That  they  all  may  be  one,"  dwell- 
ing on  the  blessing  of  Christian  union  and  its  hind- 
rances. Stanley  Pumphrey  followed,  taking  for  his 
text,  ''Be   always   ready."     "Be   always   ready   for 


238  Memories  of  Stanley  Pumphrey, 

death ;  see  wherein  this  readiness  consists.  Be 
always  ready  to  give  an  answer  concerning  the  hope 
that  is  in  you.  If  we  have  the  true  hope,  we  shall 
not  be  ashamed  to  confess  it,  and  shall  confess  it 
w4th  meekness  and  with  the  deep  feeling  that  there 
is  no  room  for  boasting,  because  it  is  all  of  grace. 
Be  always  ready  for  service.  Remember  the  Bible 
curse  on  those  w^ho  do  the  work  of  the  Lord  negli- 
gently. Hezekiah  charged  the  priests  and  the 
Levites  to  be  ready,  saying,  '  My  sons,  be  not  now 
negligent,  for  the  Lord  hath  chosen  you  to  stand  be- 
fore Him,  to  serve  Him,  and  that  ye  should  minister 
unto  Him.'  Christ  says,  '  That  servant  which  knew 
his  Lord's  will,  and  prepared  not  himself,  neither  did 
according  to  his  will,  shall  be  beaten  with  many 
stripes,'  and  even  Artaxerxes  exclaims,  *  Whatsoever 
is  commanded  by  the  God  of  heaven  let  it  be  dili- 
gently done.' " 

A  proposition  was  brought  before  the  Yearly  Meet- 
ing from  one  of  the  Quarterly  Meetings,  ''for  the 
establishment  of  a  Ministers'  Fund,  out  of  which 
such  might  be  assisted  as  are  called  to  give  their 
whole  time  to  the  work  of  the  Lord." 

In  the  meeting  of  ministers  and  elders  Stanley 
Pumphrey  gave  an  address  on  the  exhortation, 
*'  Speak  thou  the  things  that  become  sound 
doctrine."  *'  Those  who  have  read  the  Epistles  of 
Paul  to  Timothy  and  Titus  cannot  fail  to  have  been 
struck  with  the  stress  he  lays  on  the  importance  of 
maintaining  sound  doctrine.  And  those  w^ho  have 
noticed  how  close  is  the  connection  between  men's 
belief  and  their  actions,  will  see  how  reasonable  it  is 


Iowa.  239 

that  this  stress  should  be  laid  on  sound  doctrine.  If 
we  would  preach  sound  doctrine  we  must  diligently 
search  the  treasury  of  Holy  Scripture,  wherein  we 
have  the  written  record  of  the  will  of  God.  All 
doctrine  contrary  to  the  teaching  of  Scripture  is 
to  be  unhesitatingly  rejected.  In  the  Old  Testament 
we  have  a  record  attested  by  the  authority  of  Christ ; 
in  the  New  Testament  we  find  the  very  words  of  our 
Lord  and  Saviour  and  the  words  of  the  Apostles 
written  by  the  inspiration  of  His  Spirit.  It  should 
be  the  aim  of  the  Christian  minister  to  present  the 
truth  as  they  presented  it,  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus, 
in  its  completeness  and  harmony.  In  doing  this  we 
shall,  after  their  example,  lay  the  greatest  stress  on 
the  most  important  truths.  We  shall  lay  the  founda- 
tion of  repentance  and  faith  in  our  Lord  and  Saviour 
Jesus  Christ.  We  shall  teach  that  except  a  man  be 
born  again  through  the  agency  of  the  Divine  Spirit, 
and  his  soul  cleansed  from  sin,  he  cannot  see  the 
Kingdom  of  God.  We  shall  teach  that  this  cleansing 
comes  through  faith  in  the  Son  of  God,  who  became 
man,  and  died  on  the  cross  for  men,  shedding  His 
precious  blood  there  for  the  remission  of  our  sins. 
We  shall  teach  that  He  rose  again,  and  ever  liveth 
our  glorified  Mediator,  High  Priest,  and  King.  We 
shall  also  teach  the  necessity  for  receiving  the  Holy 
Spirit  and  for  sanctification.  We  shall  teach  that 
sanctification  means  holiness  of  life,  and,  after  the 
example  of  Paul,  we  shall  enforce  whatever  things 
are  true  and  pure,  just  and  honest,  lovely  and  of 
good  report.  We  shall  draw  a  clear  distinction  be- 
tween what  is  of  primary  and  what  of  subordinate 


240  Memories  of  Stanley  Pumphrey. 

importance  ;  between  those  things  which  are  matters 
of  human  opinion  and  those  which  rest  on  the  clear 
declaration  of  our  Lord.  We  shall  be  careful  not 
hastily  to  take  up  novelties  of  doctrine,  and  never 
to  dogmatize  where  our  opinions  do  not  rest  on  solid 
grounds.  Perhaps  an  illustration  may  be  permitted 
here.  A  subject  that  has  claimed  much  attention  in 
this  Yearly  Meeting  is  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrec- 
tion. Of  the  importance  of  that  doctrine  there  can 
be  no  question.  It  was  a  cardinal  feature  in  Apos- 
tolic teaching.  They  taught  that  the  dead  shall  rise  ; 
that  all  shall  stand  before  the  judgment-seat  of 
Christ,  and  shall  then  receive  the  things  done  in  the 
body  ;  the  wicked  going  away  into  everlasting  pun- 
ishment, the  righteous  into  life  eternal.  These 
things  have  not  always  been  clearly  apprehended, 
and  in  zeal  against  some  who  seemed  to  think  we 
should  not  retain  our  personality  in  the  other  world, 
some  have  gone  so  far  in  a  material  direction  that 
they  have  see^ned  to  deny  the  Scriptural  statements 
that  we  shall  all  be  changed  ;  that  this  corruptible 
shall  put  on  incorruption  and  this  mortal  shall  put 
on  immortality  ;  that  this  natural  body  shall  become 
a  spiritual  body  and  this  body  of  our  humiliation  be 
fashioned  like  unto  the  body  of  His  glory.  And 
these  teachers  have  been  impatient  of  those  who 
could  not  accept  their  way  of  stating  the  doctrine, 
and  have  unjustly  accused  them  of  denying -the  resur- 
rection altoQ^ether. 

*' As  we  should  be  careful  with  regard  to  introduc- 
ing novelties  of  doctrine,  so  also  w^e  should  be  care- 
ful in  introducing  novelties  of  practice.     In  these 


Iowa.  241 

matters  a  tender  regard  should  be  paid  to  one  an- 
other's judgment.  We  ought  not  roughly  to  over- 
ride the  convictions  of  others,  and  should  be  very 
careful  not  to  adopt  the  proud  assumption  tliat  v.'e 
know  infallibly  the  mind  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  His 
will  is  manifested  to  our  brethren  as  well  as  to  us  ; 
and  we  shall  find  that  there  is  wisdom  and  peace  in 
obeying  the  inspired  precept,  'AH  of  you  be  subject 
one  to  another,  and  be  clothed  with  humility.'  Thus 
will  be  promoted  that  unity  of  spirit  and  of  action 
for  which  the  Yearly  Meeting  is  solicitous." 

Ere  the  Yearly  Meeting  closed  John  Frederick 
Hansen  was  liberated  to  work  in  Norway,  Denmark, 
and  Sweden,  with  other  service. 

Near  Bloomfield,  Stanley  and  Sarah  Pumphrey 
called  on  Charles  Williams,  whose  house  lies  up  a 
shelving  bank.  On  getting  into  the  conveyance  it 
overbalanced  in  returning  down  this  bank  ;  the  roof  of 
the  conveyance  was  broken  to  shivers,  and  the  occu- 
pants and  seats  precipitated  into  the  road.  The  horses 
got  off  with  the  main  body  of  the  wagon,  and  w^hen 
Stanley  regained  his  feet,  the  wagon  was  lying  bottom 
upwards  a  hundred  yards  off,  and  the  horses  with  the 
broken  pole  were  galloping  up  the  next  hill.  A  few 
bruises  and  a  thorough  shaking  of  the  nerves  seemed 
to  be  all  the  personal  injury  sustained,  and,  thankful 
for  their  preservation,  they  proceeded  on  their  way. 

In  passing  from  Iowa  amid  many  loving  leave-tak- 
ings, he  felt  that  while  the  condition  of  the  Society 
there  was  not  altogether  satisfactory,  there  were  a 
good  proportion  of  excellent  people  and  some  prom- 
ising young  ministers  among  them. 
II 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

INDIANA. 

"  Indiana  is  the  largest  Yearly  Meeting  of  Friends 
in  the  world,  having  nearly  18,000  members,  distri- 
buted over  the  eastern  half  of  the  State  of  Indiana 
and  the  western  third  of  the  State  of  Ohio.  What 
impressed  me  in  Indiana  Yearly  Meeting  was  the 
number  of  interests  it  considers  of  a  missionary  and 
philanthropic  character,  and  the  energy  with  which 
they  are  handled  ;  and  especially  its  evangelising 
power,  arising  from  the  large  number  of  gifted  men 
and  women  in  the  prime  of  life  who  for  many  years 
have  given  their  time  mainly  to  the  work  of  the  min- 
istry. The  way  in  w^iich  many  of  these  evangelists 
work,  is,  I  think,  better  adapted  for  building  up  the 
churches  than  the  old  plan  of  going  hastily  from 
place  to  place  ;  for,  however  refreshing  and  helpful 
such  visits  may  be,  and  however  right  it  may  be  for 
some  to  give  themselves  to  service  just  of  this  char- 
acter, more  than  this  is  often  needed.  Many  of  our 
ministering  Friends  in  America  remain  two  or  three 
weeks  in  one  place,  holding  meetings  morning  and 
evening  from  day  to  day.  The  situation  of  the  peo- 
ple in  an  agricultural  community  during  the  winter 
months  favours  this  mode  of  working  :  it  is  not  diffi- 
cult for  them  then  to  release  themselves  from  other 


Indiana.  243 

engagements  to  attend  such  meetings  ;  and  they  do 
it  gladly.  I  do  not  say  that  all  I  have  seen  done  in 
connection  with  these  meetings  has  been  done  just 
in  the  way  I  should  have  thought  best  ;  but  I  gladly 
bear  my  testimony  to  the  great  blessing  that  has  very 
often  attended  them,  and  the  solid  lasting  good  that 
has  resulted  from  them.  As  regards  what  we  may 
not  be  quite  prepared  to  unite  with,  the  spirit  indi- 
cated by  the  words  of  good  old  Nathan  Douglas  ap- 
pears to  be  the  right  one,  wiien  he  says  :  '  I  cannot 
work  like  this  dear  Friend  :  but  he  is  doing  the  Lord's 
work  ;  he  is  my  brother,  and  I  love  him.'  If  a  spirit 
like  this  had  always  been  manifested  on  the  one  side, 
and  a  little  more  forbearance,  patience,  and  yielding 
on  the  other,  much  difficulty  might  have  been  avoided. 
One  result  of  the  successive  meetings  I  have  alluded 
to,  has  been  large  accessions  to  the  membership  of 
the  Society  of  Friends  in  many  places.  Many  in  con- 
nection with  these  meetings  have  been  awakened  to 
a  concern  about  their  souls.  They  have  had  no  pre- 
vious connection  with  any  Christian  church,  and  the 
ministers  have  wisely  encouraged  them  to  join  some 
church.  They  have  been  asked  what  society  they 
would  prefer,  and  have  often  very  naturally  elected 
to  unite  themselves  with  the  denomination  through 
whose  instrumentality  they  have  been  helped;  and 
thus  it  has  happened  that  twenty,  thirty,  fifty,  and 
even  larger  numbers  of  names  have  been  handed  in 
at  once  to  the  overseers  as  applicants  for  member- 
ship. These  new  converts  may  often  have  been 
taken  in  too  hastily  without  receiving  the  amount 
of  care  and  teaching  that  was  really  due  to  them  ; 


244  Memories  of  Stanley  Pninphrey. 

on  the  other  hand,  in  very  many  instances,  those 
thus  received  have  proved  solid  and  serviceable 
members. 

''  Our  own  line  of  service,  in  this  as  in  other  Yearly 
Meetings,  lay  largely  in  the  attendance  of  Quarterly 
Meetings.  These  are  generally  arranged  one  week 
apart,  for  the  convenience  of  travelling  ministers. 
The  Meeting  Houses  are  usually  built  of  wood,  and 
are  very  wide  in  proportion  to  their  depth,  so  that 
when  the  sliding  shutters  are  drawn  down  between 
men  and  women's  side  of  the  house,  they  form  two 
square  apartments.  The  number  of  seats  facing  the 
meeting  strike  an  English  eye  as  out  of  proportion 
to  the  size  of  the  congregation,  and  in  the  more 
modern  houses  this  arrangement  is  being  modified. 
The  Meeting  House  commonly  stands  in  a  large  en- 
closure, with  sheds  and  hitching-posts  for  the  horses. 
Often  the  whole  available  space  is  occupied,  and  it 
is  not  an  unusual  thing  to  see  the  road  also  for  a  con- 
siderable distance  lined  with  vehicles.  The  meet- 
ings for  worship  are  often  long,  and  in  the  business 
meetings  important  subjects  sometimes  require  a 
little  more  careful  discussion,  but  I  enjoyed  the  rapid 
way  in  which  the  judgment  of  a  meeting  was  often 
arrived  at  after  two  or  three  Friends  had  spoken,  by 
a  number  of  Friends  following  one  another  with  such 
brief  expressions  as  '  That's  my  mind  ! '  *  I  unite  with 
Simeon  ! '  and  'So  do  I  ! '  There  is  also  something 
we  may  learn  in  England  from  the  way  in  which  the 
women  Friends  take  an  equal  share  with  the  men  in 
the  deliberations. 

*'  The  meetings  on  the  succeeding  Sabbath  are  re- 


Indiana,  245 

garded  as  a  part  of  the  Quarterly  Meeting.  They 
are  great  occasions,  and  often  attended  by  the  whole 
population  round.  I  always  felt  the  responsibility  of 
them,  and  very  generally  enjoyed  much  freedom  in 
the  work  of  the  ministry.  On  these  occasions  I 
usually  gave  my  expositions  of  the  distinguishing 
principles  of  Friends,  endeavouring  to  show  their 
harmony  with  Scripture  teaching.  Notice  that  such 
an  opportunity  would  be  afforded  had  usually  been 
given  the  day  before,  and  Friends  were^  invited  to 
bring  their  *  basket  dinners '  along  with  them.  At 
the  close  of  the  meeting  for  worship,  the  house  would 
be  turned  into  one  large  refection  room,  and  groups 
would  be  seen  all  over  enjoying  the  fried  chicken, 
pumpkin  pie,  and  various  other  delicacies,  which 
American  housekeepers  so  well  understand.  If  there 
were  no  knives  and  forks,  and  if  one  bucket  of  water 
and  dipper  served  for  the  wants  of  many,  what  did 
it  matter  ? 

*'  My  lecture  occupied  about  two  hours,  and  it  was 
an  effort  to  speak  thus  in  a  large  house,  with  fre- 
quent interruptions  from  crying  babies. 

'■'•  There  are  many  districts  in  the  limits  of  Indiana 
Yearly  Meeting  in  which  Friends  form  quite  an  im- 
portant element  in  the  population.  In  Clinton 
County,  Ohio,  from  which  Robert  Walter  Douglas 
and  John  Henry  Douglas  come,  out  of  a  population 
of  24,000,  there  are  about  4000  Friends  ;  in  Wayne 
County,  Indiana,  there  must  be  over  3000.  A  Friend 
living  a  few  miles  north  of  Richmond  told  me  he 
could  take  his  choice  of  thirty  meetings,  to  any  of 
which    he  could   ride    on   First-day  morning ;    and 


246  Memories  of  Stanley  Piunphrey. 

round  about  Spiceland,  New  Garden,  and  Walnut 
Ridge,  the  people  are  chiefly  Friends.  I  was  par- 
ticularly interested  in  the  last-named  district,  a  purely 
agricultural  one,  where  not  less  than  a  thousand 
members  are  found  in  a  radius  of  about  six  miles. 
It  is  a  neighbourhood  in  which,  a  few  years  ago, 
there  had  been  a  good  deal  of  excitement,  and  some 
extravagances.  We  rejoiced  in  the  evidence  we  saw 
that  Friends  had  seen  their  mistake  in  some  of  these 
respects,  and  they  appeared  to  be  in  as  sober  and 
healthy  a  condition  as  almost  any  we  visited.  This 
arose  to  a  great  extent  from  the  leading  Friends  not 
throwing  themselves  out  of  sympathy  with  a  genuine 
religious  movement  because  of  its  exuberances,  but 
being  ready  to  recognise  that  in  it  which  was  of  the 
Lord." 

One  of  the  subjects  that  came  prominently  before 
Indiana  Yearly  Meeting  was,  the  necessary  provision 
for  the  support  of  the  ministry.  Robert  Douglas, 
and  his  brother  John  Henry  Douglas,  and  Mary 
Rogers  pressed  home  this  important  question  on  the 
attention  of  Friends. 

*'  There  are  now  in  Indiana  a  considerable  number 
of  ministers  without,  or  almost  without,  any  regular 
means  of  livelihood.  The  work  of  the  church  has 
pressed  upon  them  more  and  more,  and  they  have 
been  so  much  withdrawn  from  their  usual  occupa- 
tions that  they  can  no  longer  pursue  them  with  the 
regularity  that  is  essential  to  success.  These  evan- 
gelists have  gone  into  districts  where  there  has  been 
little  or  no  previous  provision  for  public  worship, 
and  an  interest  in  religion  has  been  stirred  up  through 


Indiana.  247 

a  succession  of  gospel  meetings  being  held  ;  and  the 
people  thus  impressed  need  regularly  looking  after, 
or  the  good  effect  may  very  much  evaporate.  Thus 
in  some  places  there  is  the  need  for  a  settled  pastor- 
ate to  follow  up  the  work  of  the  evangelist ;  and 
there  is  plenty  of  constant  religious  work  for  a  pas- 
tor. The  position  many  leading  Friends  in  Indiana 
take  on  this  question  is  that  while  none  should 
preach  for  money,  none  should  be  hindered  from 
preaching  for  want  of  it.  That  some  men  should  be 
entirely  set  apart  for  the  work  of  the  ministry  is,  I 
think,  clearly  right.  The  danger  is  that  others,  the 
proof  of  whose  apostleship  is  by  no  means  so  evi- 
dent, will  claim  that  they  ought  also  to  be  similarly 
supported,  who  would  do  better  service  if  they  gave 
half  or  two-thirds  of  their  time  to  the  plough." 

Many  of  the  intervals  between  the  larger  meetings 
were  employed  by  Stanley  Pumphrey  in  visiting  the 
country  Monthly  Meetings.     He  says  : — 

''We  have  attended  five  of  these  during  the  last 
eight  days.  Ministers  are  plentiful  hereav\^ay,  and 
we  have  heard  a  great  many  ministers'  certificates 
for  travel  granted  and  returned.  The  Friends  here 
do  not  waste  time  over  either.  The  reports  of  the 
journeys  are  given  with  great  brevity,  and  the  meet- 
ing expresses  itself  satisfied.  Requests  for  certifi- 
cates to  travel  are  stated  with  still  greater  brevity, 
and  Friends  respond,  '  I  am  free  that  John  should 
go,'  or  '  I  have  unity  with  Benjamin,'  and  then  others 
answer  'So  do  I,'  'So  am  I,*  'I  unite,'  &c.  An  im- 
portant proposal  of  this  description  was  thus  disposed 
of  this  week  in  a  minute  and  a  half." 


248  Memories  of  Stanley  PiinipJirey. 

Later  on,  visits  were  paid  to  Fairfield  Quarterly- 
Meeting,  an  agricultural  district,  in  which  there  are 
more  than  2500  Friends  within  a  radius  of  a  few 
miles. 

At  the  Monthly  Meetings  of  ministers  and  elders 
in  these  parts  Stanley  Pumphrey  occasionally  gave 
very  useful  Bible  lessons.  At  Martinsville  the  Bible 
lesson  w^as  on  the  twentieth  chapter  of  Acts,  and  at 
the  following  Quarterly  Meeting  of  ministers  and 
elders  he  gave  a  Bible  lesson  from  i  Timothy,  3rd 
chapter.  These  lessons  were  much  appreciated,  and 
helped  to  encourage  ministers  in  systematic  Bible 
study. 

''  Our  visit  to  Spiceland,"  he  says,  'Svas  a  time  of 
much  interest.  It  is  one  of  the  most  important 
meetings  in  America.  The  place  itself  is  only  a 
small  scattered  village,  but  the  farms  for  miles  round 
are  chiefly  occupied  by  Friends,  and  they  have  a 
membership  of  600.  In  addition  to  this,  there  is  an 
Academy  under  the  charge  of  Friends,  and  a  large 
proportion  of  the  200  students  attend  the  meeting,  so 
that  there  are  often  500  people  present  on  First-day 
morning.  They  have  fourteen  ministers,  and  often 
receive  visits  from  those  from  other  places.  They 
need,  however,  a  good  teaching  ministry.  People  may 
be  very  useful  and  successful  as  evangelists,  and  may 
be  listened  to  with  interest  in  places  to  which  they 
go  as  strangers,  but  it  requires  other  qualifications 
constantly  to  minister  instructively  to  the  same  con- 
gregation." 

Stanley  Pumphrey  spent  a  week  in  Cincinnati 
which  he  called  "the  idlest  week  he  had  in  Amer- 


Indiana.  249 

ica."  *' I  went  there  to  rest,  and  did  it.  It  was  a 
great  treat  to  be  in  a  liouse  surrounded  by  all  the 
comforts  of  an  English  home.  My  dear  friends 
Murray  and  Catharine  Shipley  did  all  for  me  that 
kindness  could  suggest,  and  their  society  and  that  of 
their  children  was  truly  congenial.  The  city  is  finely 
situated,  with  large  buildings  and  mercantile  blocks, 
and  huge  hotels.  The  Ohio  is  a  fine  river,  and  is 
spanned  by  two  noble  bridges.  A  large  proportion 
of  the  inhabitants  are  Germans.  The  Friends'  Meet- 
ing House  is  a  substantial  building,  well  fitted  up. 
Following  the  example  of  George  Fox  at  Swarth- 
more,  they  have  placed  a  Bible  on  a  stand  in  the 
middle  of  the  gallery.  This  arrangement  is  now 
common  in  the  West.  There  was  a  precious  sense 
of  communion  and  true  worship  in  the  meeting.  I 
spoke  from  the  words,  'Not  I,  but  Christ,'  tracing 
the  connection  in  which  they  stand  both  as  to  justi- 
fication and  sanctification." 

As  the  conclusion  of  Stanley  Pumphrey's  service 
in  Indiana  approached,  he  again  attended  the  Yearly 
Meeting  at  Richmond.  During  these  final  visits  to 
the  Yearly  Meetings,  he  laid  before  Friends  a  subject 
which  had  taken  a  firm  hold  on  his  own  mind,  as  to 
the  duty  of  the  Church  to  engage  with  more  energy 
in  Foreign  Mission  work,  in  fulfilment  of  the  great 
commission  of  Christ  to  His  people,  "  Go  ye  into  all 
the  world  and  preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature." 

The  proposal  he  threw  before  the  American  Yearly 
Meetings  was  to  the  effect  that  a  Central  Missionary 
Board  should  be  formed,  consisting  of  delegates 
from   all  the  contributing  Yearly  Meetings    in  the 


250  Memories  of  Stanley  Pumphrey. 

United  States.  Charles  F.  Coffin,  clerk  of  Indiana 
Yearly  Meeting,  kindly  made  way  for  the  matter  to 
be  brought  forward,  and  Stanley  delivered  his  mis- 
sionary appeal  to  both  men  and  women  Friends. 
The  Friends  of  Indiana  were  deeply  impressed  with 
the  importance  of  the  subject,  and  gave  it  their  candid 
deliberation.  They  finallv  appointed  five  delegates, 
with  the  understanding  that  the  first  meeting  of  the 
Board  should  be  one  for  conference  only,  and  to 
suggest,  if  they  saw  it  desirable,  some  plan  for  fu- 
ture organization. 

In  bidding  farewell  to  this  large  body  of  Friends, 
he  says  : — "  I  was  assigned  to  the  east  end  of  the 
large  Meeting  House,  and  having  expressed  a  wish 
to  meet  the  Christian  workers,  I  had  a  very  unusual 
audience.  About  a  thousand  were  present,  includ- 
ing a  great  many  of  just  the  class  I  wished  to  meet. 
I  felt  the  responsibility  of  the  occasion  very  much, 
but  the  help  of  the  Lord  was  granted  in  answer  to 
prayer. 

"We  have  now  pretty  much  completed  our  work 
in  Indiana,  and  have  visited  all  their  Quarterly 
Meetings.  We  have  been  to  a  large  proportion  of 
their  particular  meetings,  and  not  unfrequently  have 
had  two  to  six  meetings  in  a  place.  Probably  all 
through  the  winter  I  have  averaged  twelve  meetings 
a  week.  We  have  asked  our  Heavenly  Father  for 
bodily,  mental,  and  spiritual  strength  according  to 
our  need,  and  can  gratefully  record  the  answer  to 
our  prayer." 


CHAPTER  XX. 

WESTERN. 

"Western  Yearly  Meeting  contains  12,000  mem- 
bers, and  consists  of  Friends  residing  in  the  western 
half  of  the  State  of  Indiana  and  in  two  Quarterly- 
Meetings  on  the  eastern  edge  of  Illinois.  The 
Yearly  Meeting  is  held  at  Plainfield,  nine  miles  from 
Indianapolis,  and  is  very  largely  attended.  Just  to 
the  north  of  Plainfield,  in  a  district  fourteen  miles 
by  seven,  in  Hamilton  county,  there  are  three  Quar- 
terly Meetings  with  2500  members,  and  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Plainfield,  to  the  south  and  west,  there 
are  three  other  Quarterly  Meetings  with  3500  mem- 
bers. Thus  a  very  large  number  of  Friends  are 
within  easy  distance,  and  the  attendance  of  their 
neighbours  is  also  large.  The  number  of  people 
present  on  the  camping  ground  at  one  of  the  Yearly 
Meetings  was  estimated  at  12,000,  and  as  the  esti- 
mate was  based  on  the  number  of  conveyances  which 
were  counted  coming  into  Plainfield  that  day,  most 
likely  the  figures  are  approximately  correct.  The 
camping  ground  covers  several  acres.  The  open-air 
meetings  are  a  great  feature  in  these  gatherings. 

'^  Western  Yearly  Meetings  is  ahead  of  all  the 
Yearly  Meetings  as  regards  First-day  School  work, 
largely  in  consequence  of  the  persevering  labours 


252  Memories  of  Stanley  Piunphrey. 

and  efficient  systematizing  of  one  or  two  zealous 
teachers.  They  have  scarcely  a  meeting  without  a 
First-day  school,  and  a  larger  proportion  of  their 
members  are  in  regular  attendance  than  anywhere 
else." 

In  November,  1877,  Stanley  and  Sarah  Pumphrey 
attended  the  Biennial  First-day  School  Conference 
at  Indianapolis.  Delegates  from  ten  of  the  Ameri- 
can Yearly  Meetings  were  present.  One  of  the  fine 
addresses  at  this  conference  was  on  work,  by  Benja- 
min Frankland  of  Chicago.  His  thoughts  ran  in 
the  direction  of  the  words  of  Smiles :  ''  Blest  work, 
if  ever  thou  wast  curse  of  God,  what  must  His  bless- 
ing be,"  and  the  line  of  E.  B.  Browning's  poem — 

''  I  hold  that  heaven  itself  is  only  work  to  surer  ends." 

He  spoke  of  Paul  the  veteran  apostle  working  with 
his  own  hands  in  the  shop  of  Aquila,  at  Corinth  ; 
and  dwelt  on  the  nobility  of  toil.  David  Updegraff, 
Timothy  Harrison,  Dr.  Rhoads,  and  many  others  took 
part,  and  a  large  number  of  subjects  were  introduced 
and  discussed. 

Later  on  we  find  Stanley  and  his  wife  at  Chicago  ; 
and  he  whites  from  there  of  his  thoughtfulness  re- 
specting the  churches  in  the  West ;  so  much  real  life 
and  vigour,  yet  so  much  need  of  an  evenly-balanced 
judgment.  "  I  preached  to  them,"  he  says,  "from  i 
Peter  iv.  10,  11  :  'As  every  man  hath  received  the 
gift,  even  so  minister  the  same  one  to  another  as 
good  stewards  of  the  manifold  grace  of  God  ; '  back- 
ing up  the  sentiments  of  Peter  with  the  words  of  his 


Western.  253 

dear  brother  Paul  to  Rome,  Corinth,  and  Ephesus. 
I  urged  them  to  faithfulness  to  the  Lord  who  bought 
them  ;  not  to  despise  the  day  of  small  things  ;  not  to 
become  trammelled  with  the  pursuit  of  the  things 
of  this  life,  but  to  let  the  Lord's  cause  be  foremost." 

Perhaps  no  spot  in  this  Yearly  Meeting  claimed  so 
much  of  Stanley  Pumphrey's  attention  as  West 
Union,  in  the  compass  of  White  Lick  Quarterly 
Meeting.  He  felt  called  to  tarry  there,  and  with  the 
help  of  his  wife,  to  hold  a  series  of  meetings  day 
after  day.  Of  these  he  thus  writes  from  Valley 
Mills  :— 

''  We  continued  to  hold  meetings  twice  a  day. 
The  interest  deepened  and  the  attendance  increased. 
We  had  the  company  of  John  Carey,  an  elderly 
minister  from  Grant  County,  who  had  felt  he  must 
come  to  West  Union  and  stay  awhile,  so  that  his 
service  and  ours  tallied  exactly.  We  preached  the 
Gospel  as  simply,  forcibly  and  earnestly  as  we  were 
able.  We  were  careful  to  lay  the  foundation  of  re- 
pentance from  dead  works  and  faith  towards  God, 
and  set  forth  the*  freeness  of  the  Gospel  message, 
that  the  same  Lord  over  all  is  rich  unto  all  that  call 
upon  Him.  Twenty-six  meetings  were  thus  held. 
At  the  end  of  the  time  came  the  Quarterly  Meeting. 
Out  of  1000  members  they  have  only  one  recorded 
minister,  a  condition  of  things  probably  without 
parallel  in  the  West.  One  of  the  most  interesting 
meetings  was  held  on  Second-day  morning.  I 
brought  forward  the  Scripture  teaching  on  confes- 
sion :  '  If  thou  shalt  confess  with  thy  mouth  the  Lord 
Jesus,  and  shalt  believe  in  thine  heart  that  God  hath 


254  Memories  of  Stafiley  Ptimphrey. 

raised  him  from  the  dead,  thou  shalt  be  saved.  For 
with  the  heart  man  believeth  unto  righteousness, 
and  with  the  mouth  confession  is  made  unto  salva- 
tion.' This  had  the  desired  eifect  of  leading  a  large 
proportion  of  the  adult  members  present  to  give 
their  testimony,  and  they  did  it  very  feelingly,  with- 
out any  one  urging  them  unduly.  One  dear  old  wo- 
man said  that  from  the  time  she  was  a  little  girl  she 
believed  she  had  never  been  ashamed  to  confess  her 
Saviour.  Several  expressed  the  goodness  of  the 
Lord  to  them,  and  others  determined  by  grace  to 
lead  more  devoted  lives. 

''  In  the  evening  meetings  there  was  usually  sing- 
ing, and  often  several  prayers  and  testimonies. 
Those  who  felt  anxious  were  asked  to  rise  to  their 
feet.  They  will  not  do  this  unless  they  are  in  earnest, 
and  then  we  knew  who  wanted  talking  to  at  the 
close  of  the  meeting.  We  afterwards  gave  invita- 
tions to  any  we  knew  were  impressed,  to  come  in  the 
afternoon  to  the  friend's  house  where  we  were  stay- 
ing, so  that  we  might  have  private  conversation  and 
a  meeting  with  them.  Most  of  thorn  came  again  the 
following  afternoon,  and  a  good  many  other  young 
Christians  with  them.  There  were  almost  more  than 
could  get  into  the  house.  Some  were  led  to  decide 
for  Christ,  others  were  afresh  aroused,  and  the  work- 
ing members  acknowledged  the  benefit  they  had 
themselves  received." 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

OHIO. 

Jonathan  Taylor  and  his  wife  removed  to  Ohio  in 
1800,  and  settled  near  the  site  of  the  present  town  of 
Mount  Pleasant.  For  eighteen  days,  while  building 
a  cabin,  they  lived  in  a  tent,  and  during  this  time 
the  first  meetings  west  of  the  Ohio  River  were  held 
in  and  about  this  tent,  the  people  sitting  on  logs, 
surrounded  by  a  magnificent  forest.  The  present 
membership  of  the  Yearly  Meeting  in  Ohio,  with 
which  London  Yearly  Meeting  corresponds,  is  be- 
tween 3000  and  4000. 

On  the  17th  July,  1879,  Stanley  Pumphrey  and  his 
wife  were  at  Cleveland,  Ohio.  It  is  a  rapidly  in- 
creasing city,  and  a  seat  of  the  iron  trade.  The  via- 
duct is  a  remarkably  fine  structure,  just  completed. 
It  is  something  after  the  style  of  the  Holborn  Via- 
duct, but  is  much  larger,  and  has  to  be  provided 
with  a  tremendous  drawbridge,  as  it  crosses  a  navig- 
able river  near  its  entrance  to  Lake  Erie.  The  num- 
ber of  vehicles  that  pass  over  it  in  a  day  compared  to 
foot  passengers  presents  a  singular  contrast  to  the 
average  in  England,  5000  vehicles  passing  to  every 
8000  who  walk  over.  Euclid  Avenue  is  considered 
one  of  the  finest  streets  in  the  world.  It  is  seven 
miles  long,  with  a  succession  of  beautiful  residences 


256  Memories  of  Stanley  PiimpJirey. 

the  whole  way.  There  is  generally  only  a  light  iron 
fence  to  protect  the  gardens,  so  that  the  lawns  and 
shrubberies,  flowers  and  fountains  can  be  enjoyed 
by  the  passers-by. 

'*  We  went  on  to  Van  Wert,  where  there  has  been 
a  larger  accession  of  members  than  in  any  other 
place  we  have  heard  of.  This  Monthly  Meeting, 
which  belongs  to  Indiana  Yearly  Meeting,  but  is 
situated  in  the  State  of  Ohio,  was  only  set  up  about 
five  years  ago,  and  they  have  now  700  members. 
They  built  one  Meeting  House  and  had  to  enlarge 
it.  They  built  a  still  better  Meeting  House  seven 
miles  from  it,  at  Middlepoint,  and  they  are  now  pre- 
paring to  build  a  third  house  and  establish  a  third 
meeting,  midway  between  the  two.  They  are  con- 
tinually receiving  applications  to  go  and  hold  meet- 
ings in  other  localities,  and  if  they  had  an  adequate 
staff  of  workers  to  organize  and  build  up  churches 
as  well  as  gather  them,  they  could  rapidly  make 
headway. 

''  Our  meetings  at  Van  Wert  were  well  attended. 
On  First-day  evening  more  came  than  could  get  in. 
They  have  a  good  deal  of  singing  in  their  meetings, 
and  little  silence.  They  value  the  liberty  of  preach- 
ing, and  many  of  them  exercise  it.  They  enjoy  their 
meetings,  and  are  very  hearty  in  their  greetings  of 
one  another,  and  the  expression  on  the  faces  of  these 
new^  converts  shows  that  many  of  them  have  really 
found  the  true  treasure.  The  people  are  mostly 
poor,  but  the  best  hospitality  they  can  give  is  most 
cheerfully  accorded. 

''  The  mercury  is  at  90°.     In  the  old  forest  lands 


Ohio,  257 

of  Ohio  and  Indiana  sufficient  wood  has  been  left 
to  intercept  the  full  current  of  air,  and  there  is 
not  the  freshness  in  the  atmosphere  of  the  prairie 
lands  of  Iowa  and  Kansas,  or  of  the  New  England 
States." 

At  Damascus  Stanley  Pumphrey  gave  a  Bible 
lesson  in  the  meeting  of  ministers  and  elders  on 
Malachi  ii,  5 — 7.  ''I  have  been  thankful,"  he  says, 
"  for  the  liberty  on  these  occasions  to  offer  special 
instruction  on  subjects  connected  with  ministerial 
and  pastoral  work  ;  and  these  Bible  lessons  have  met 
with  emphatic  approval.  While  careful  not  to  lose 
the  devotional  element  from  these  meetings,  I  am 
convinced  they  ought  to  be  more  practical,  and  more 
used  as  a  school  of  the  prophets." 

In  the  summer  of  1879,  Stanley  Pumphrey  and  his 
wife  attended  Ohio  Yearly  Meeting.  The  meeting 
of  ministers  and  elders  was  a  remarkable  occasion. 

'*  A  Friend  gave  a  powerful  address,  calling  on  all 
present  to  consecrate  themselves  completely  to  the 
Lord,  and  to  trust  in  the  Lord  to  deliver  them  from 
all  sin. 

*'  Elizabeth  Malleson  followed,  and  proposed  that 
all  should  kneel  dov/n  together  before  God.  This 
was  done,  and  the  whole  meeting,  with  very  few  ex- 
ceptions, remained  upon  their  knees,  while  brief  pe- 
titions rose  up  from  full  hearts.  The  power  of  the 
Lord  was  over  all." 

Elizabeth  Malleson  has  since  been  called  away  to 
heaven,  there  to  mingle  with  the  spirits  of  many  with 
whom  she  held  communion  on  earth. 

*'  In  another  of  the  meetings  on  ministry  and  over- 


258  Memories  of  Stanley  Piimphrey, 

sight,  a  minister  brought  forward  the  great  concern 
he  felt  for  more  stability  in  our  religious  work.  He 
was  tired,  he  said,  of  going  back  to  the  same  place 
time  after  time,  and  having  to  dig  out  the  same  peo- 
ple from  their  old  holes.  People  must  be  made  to 
understand  that  religion  is  a  life,  and  not  simply  a 
periodical  emotion. 

'*  In  an  impressive  meeting  for  worship  held  dur- 
ing this  Yearly  Meeting,  Elizabeth  Malleson  stood  up 
and  said,  *  The  word  of  the  Lord  to  me  to-day  is,  '  Do 
not  preach,  but  tell  thy  experience.'  Brought  up  in 
the  Church  of  England  I  early  became  religious,  and 
went  in  for  the  complete  and  scrupulous  observance 
of  the  whole  ritual,  being  regarded  as  a  model  of  de- 
votion to  the  services  of  the  Church.  Yet  I  was  un- 
satisfied, and  at  last  became  so  bitterly  disappointed 
at  my  failure  to  realize  peace  within,  that  I  threw  the 
whole  thing  up,  and  went  in  for  the  world.  After 
coming  to  America,  I  was  induced  to  go  to  a  Metho- 
dist meeting,  but  for  a  considerable  time  it  was  my 
delight  to  mimic  and  ridicule  those  who  went  there. 
My  conversion  took  place  at  my  own  house,  under 
the  immediate  influence  of  the  Spirit  of  God.  I  then 
had  to  confess  it  before  the  people.  At  a  holiness 
camp  meeting  I  received  a  second  experience,  and 
found  deliverance  from  the  power  of  sin,  and  had  al- 
so to  confess  this  before  the  people.  In  this  I  was 
going  further  than  the  minister  or  any  of  the  con- 
gregation, and  this  confession  brought  down  upon 
me  severe  criticism  and  opposition,  but  the  reality  of 
the  experience  was  evidenced,  when,  under  the  loss  of 
our  property,  I  remained  unmoved,  and  was  still  able 


Ohio.  259 

to  witness  to  joy,  and  peace,  and  rest,  and  triumph. 
After  this,  however,  I  lost  the  brightness  of  this 
happy  experience,  but  recovered  it  again  through 
the  influence  brought  to  bear  upon  me  at  the  Friends' 
revival  meetings  at  Glens  Falls,  New  York  State. 
It  was  the  Lord  who  guided  me  to  Friends,  and  it 
was  the  Lord  who  brought  me  out  in  the  ministry 
among  them.'  The  narrative  was  listened  to  with 
profound  attention.  It  w^as  searching,  and  came  in 
the  power  of  God,  and  many  were  led  to  cry  to  God 
for  a  deeper  heart-cleansing,  and  for  power-impart- 
ing grace.  Harriet  Steer  asked  for  silence,  and 
David  Updegrafif  prayed,  *  Oh  God,  keep  us  still 
before  Thee.'  Then  follow^ed  a  solemn  pause,  in 
which  the  presence  of  God  was  realized,  and  the 
meeting  concluded  with  brief  testimonies  and  earnest 
prayers. 

"  One  evening  was  devoted  to  the  meeting  of  the 
Missionary"  Board.  Interesting  accounts  were  given 
of  the  work  that  had  been  done  in  the  limits  of  their 
own  Yearly  Meeting,  and  in  Tennessee.  Half  an 
hour  was  given  to  me,  to  bring  fonvard  the  proposal 
for  an  American  Friends'  Missionary"  Board.  Micajah 
Binford  was  the  next  speaker,  on  the  Mexican  Mis- 
sion and  its  need  of  support.  Elizabeth  L.  Com- 
stock  addressed  us.  Her  heart  has  been  touched 
with  the  needs  of  the  coloured  refugees  who  are 
pouring  from  the  South  into  Kansas.  They  are  in 
deplorable  destitution,  and  she  is  going  to  look  after 
them. 

'*  Next  day  the  Missionar}"  question  came  before 
the  Yearly  Meeting,  and  was   united  with  as  it  had 


26o  Memories  of  Stanley  Pumphrey. 

been  the  evening  before,  and  a  minute  was  adopted 
placing  the  subject  on  a  wide  basis,  so  as  to  include 
work  among  the  Indians,  Freedmen,  Tennessee  moun- 
taineers, etc. ;  and  five  members  of  the  Yearly  Meet- 
ing were  appointed  as  delegates  to  attend  the  next 
meeting  of  the  Missionary  Board. 

*'  I  called  on  Caroline  Talbot  before  leaving  town. 
She  had  a  severe  attack  during  the  Yearly  Meeting, 
which  prevented  her  attending  the  concluding  sit- 
tings. She  looks  very  frail.  Elizabeth  L.  Comstock 
is  also  a  member  of  this  Yearly  Meeting.  Fervent 
prayer  was  offered  for  us  ere  the  meetings  closed. 
Friends  were  very  loving,  and  in  parting  from  them 
I  felt  more  warmly  towards  Ohio  Yearly  Meeting 
than  I  had  ever  done  before." 

As  Stanley  Pumphrey  passed  away  from  this  dis- 
trict, where  he  had  formed  so  many  true-hearted 
friendships,  he  makes  the  following  entries  in  his 
journal : — 

**  I  am  much  struck  with  the  dying  words  of  Sir 
Harry  Vane,  as  quoted  by  Joseph  Cook.  '  Be  not 
troubled,' he  said  to  his  children,  'fori  am  going 
home  to  my  Father.  Suffer  anything  from  men 
rather  than  sin  against  God  :  ten  thousand  deaths 
rather  than  defile  the  chastity  of  conscience. '  '  Blessed 
be  God,'  he  said,  as  he  bared  his  neck  for  the  axe, 
*  I  have  kept  a  conscience  void  of  offence  until  this 
day,  and  have  not  deserted  the  righteous  cause  for 
which  I  suffer.' 

''  Kingsley's  dying  words  were — *  It  is  not  dark- 
ness, for  God  is  light.  It  is  not  lonely,  for  Christ  is 
with  us.     It  is  not  an  unknown   country,  for  He  is 


Ohio,  261 

there.'     And  in  beautiful   accord   are  the   lines  of 
Faber — 

'  *Tis  not  alone  we  land  upon  that  shore, 
'Twill  be  as  though  we  there  had  been  before. 

We  shall  meet  more  we  know 

Than  we  can  meet  below, 
And  find  our  rest,  like  some  returning  dove, 
And  be  at  home  at  once  with  our  eternal  love.'  '* 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

WORK  AMONG  THE  COLOURED  PEOPLE. 

*'  A  HUNDRED  years  ago,  a  deep  sense  of  the  iniquity 
of  slavery,  and  a  noble  willingness  to  do,  for  the 
Lord's  sake,  what  they  saw  right  to  do,  even  though 
involving  great  pecuniary  sacrifice,  led  the  Friends 
of  America  to  give  freedom  to  all  they  held  in  bonds. 
From  that  time  the  coloured  man  has  looked  upon 
the  Quaker  as  his  friend,  and  the  Quaker  has  re- 
garded the  coloured  man  as  one  he  loved  to  help. 

**When  Lincoln's  memorable  proclamation  had 
decreed  that  'on  the  first  day  of  January,  1863,  all 
persons  held  as  slaves  shall  be  free  henceforward 
and  forever,'  Friends  were  among  the  first  to  hasten 
to  the  help  of  those  who  were  cast,  ignorant,  starv- 
ing, and  in  rags,  upon  the  pity,  of  the  North.  The 
story  of  those  days  ought  to  be  written  while  we 
have  still  among  us  the  self-denying  men  and  women 
by  whom  succour  was  conveyed  to  the  freedmen  ; 
men  and  women  whose  labours  were  often  accom- 
plished at  the  peril  of  their  lives." 

The  very  valuable  work  of  the  Baltimore  Associ- 
ation, and  the  part  taken  ever  since  the  war  by  Phil- 
adelphia and  New  York  Friends  and  other  Yearly 
Meetings  on  behalf  of  the  coloured  people,  are  well 
known. 


Work  Among  the  Coloured  People.        263 

From  his  first  landing  in  America,  Stanley  Pum- 
phrey  felt  deep  interest  in  the  coloured  population, 
and  had  meetings  with  them  in  many  places.  Al- 
though these  meetings  with  the  coloured  people  oc- 
curred at  intervals  during  his  four  years'  service  in 
the  States,  it  has  seemed  best  to  concentrate  them  in 
one  chapter,  in  order  that  his  impression  of  them 
may  be  the  more  clearly  portrayed. 

In  the  first  meeting  he  had  with  them  in  Carolina 
he  preached  from  the  story  of  the  centurion.  They 
warmed  up  and  wanted  to  shout,  but  restrained 
themselves  in  deference  to  the  Friends.  They 
crowded  up  afterwards  to  shake  hands  and  to  press 
for  another  visit.  Their  faces  showed  their  delight, 
and  they  laughed  for  joy,  exclaiming,  "We  thought, 
maybe,  as  he'd  come  so  far,  that  he'd  have  some  new 
way  to  tell  us  ;  but,  bless  the  Lord,  it's  just  the  same 
old  way  we've  known  about  so  long  ! " 

In  North  Carolina,  Stanley  Pumphrey  called  on  an 
aged  Friend,  Delphina  Mendenhall,  w^hose  husband 
was  not  a  ;nember  of  our  Society,  and  had  owned 
eighty  slaves  whom  he  had  inherited.  At  the  time 
of  Benjamin  Seebohm's  visit  in  1847,  both  husband 
and  w4fe  attended  the  meeting  at  New  Garden  where 
he  preached.  Before  a  congregation  of  800  people 
he  was  led  to  address  one  person  pointedly  with  the 
words,  '■'■  What  is  it  that  lies  between  thee  and  thy 
God  ? — Is  it  any  portion  of  estate,  or  stipposed  estate  ?  " 
The  singular  expression,  '^  supposed  estate,"  was 
just  the  one  by  which  George  Mendenhall  was  ac- 
customed to  describe  the  negro  part  of  his  inheri- 
tance ;  and  the  message  struck  home.     It  was  re- 


264  Memories  of  Stanley  Pmnphrey. 

peated  at  Springfield  a  little  later  :  ''  What  is  it  that 
lies  between  thee  and  thy  God  ? — Is  it  any  portion  of 
estate,  or  of  supposed  estate  ? "  From  that  time  this 
slaveholder  endeavoured  to  secure  the  emancipation 
of  his  slaves.  He  had  to  send  them  across  the 
country  to  the  free  States,  a  long  journey  in  wagons, 
and  at  a  great  expense.  They  could  only  be  sent 
in  detachments  ;  and  one  of  these  detachments  the 
Mendenhalls  themselves  accompanied.  In  his  will 
the  husband  directed  that  all  who  remained  should 
be  set  free  ;  but  just  when  he  died  the  civil  war 
broke  out,  and  it  was  impossible  to  carry  out  his 
wish  ;  so  that  during  those  four  years  the  widow  had 
to  care  for  them  and  provide  for  them  as  best  she 
could.  The  provision  came  like  the  manna.  She 
carried  out  her  peace  principles  consistently ;  and 
when  an  order  came  to  her  saw-mills  for  a  quantity 
of  timber  to  erect  shops  for  the  manufacture  of  guns, 
she  refused  to  allow  the  work  to  be  done.  As  soon 
as  the  way  was  open,  she  liberated  her  slaves,  accom- 
panying them  herself  to  the  Federal  lines,  where  she 
had  to  entrust  an  officer  with  the  large  sum  of  money 
needed  to  convey  them  to  their  destination.  She 
sought  God's  guidance,  and  trusted  them  in  His 
hands,  although  she  never  heard  one  word  of  them 
again  for  six  months. 

"At  another  meeting  in  their  neighbourhood, 
Benjamin  Seebohm  stopped  short  in  his  address,  and 
spoke  to  some  who  were  present :  '  You  have  been 
tempted  to  put  your  hands  to  that  which  is  not  your 
owm,  and  it  is  now  in  your  possession.  You  are 
trembling  upon  the  seats  before  me.     So  great  is  the 


Work  Among  the  Coloured  People.        265 

mercy  of  the  Lord,  that  if  you  repent  and  make  res- 
titution, He  is  ready  to  forgive  you  ;  and  so  great  is 
His  mercy,  that  if  you  accept  this  warning,  you  will 
not  be  publicly  exposed.'  At  the  close  of  the  meet- 
ing a  woman  present  said  she  did  not  believe  a  word 
of  what  the  old  Quaker  said  ;  she  knew  all  who  were 
there,  and  there  was  not  one  of  them  who  would  do 
such  a  thing.  It  soon  transpired  that  her  ovvrn  hus- 
band had  been  robbed  ;  and  in  three  weeks  the  three 
offenders,  who  had  all  been  at  the  meeting,  were  in 
the  hands  of  the  police. 

**  I  spent  the  afternoon  at  WarnersvIUe.  At  the 
close  of  the  war  Yardley  Warner  started  this  colony, 
where  the  coloured  people  have  a  fair  chance,  and 
are  located.  We  walked  down  the  long  street  of  the 
settlement,  and  gladly  noticed  the  comfortable  dwell- 
ings, with  an  acre  or  so  of  land  attached.  Most  of 
the  people  here  can  read  and  write  ;  and  they  have 
a  capital  school.  I  stopped  to  talk  to  one  of  these, 
who  is  living  in  his  own  house. 

"  '  They  tell  me,'  I  said,  '  that  some  of  your  people 
are  worse  off  than  they  used  to  be  when  they  were 
slaves.' 

*' '  There  maybe  some  badly  off,'  he  replied,  'with- 
out enough  food  or  clothing  :  but  so  there  were  in 
the  old  times  ;  and  more  so  than  now.  Generally 
speaking,  we  are  much  better  off.' 

'*  '  Then  it  is  not  true,'  I  queried,  *  that  you  wish 
yourselves  back  in  slavery  ? ' 

"  '  True  ! '  he  exclaimed  ;  '  ha,  ha,  ha  !  Let  them 
put  it  to  the  vote.  They  wouldn't  find  one  in  all 
Carolina  ! ' 


266  Mehiories  of  Stanley  Pumphrey. 

"  '  I  suppose  you  were  both  slaves,'  I  said  to  an- 
other couple. 

'*  *  Yes,  sir.' 

'"Well,  they  tell  me  that  husband  and  wife  were 
not  often  parted  in  those  days.' 

''  *  Indeed,  sir,  they  were,  it  happened  every  day,' 
answered  the  woman  ;  '  I  was  sold  several  times  my- 
self, and  my  little  child  of  eight  years  old  was  sold 
away  from  me,  and  I  never  saw  him  more.' 

"  Yet  there  is  no  doubt  that  many  of  the  Freedmen 
are  shiftless  and  improvident;  others  are  lazy,  and 
seem  to  have  no  ambition  to  do  better.  In  other 
places  they  mortgage  their  houses  and  their  agricul- 
tural implements,  get  into  debt,  and  move  from  place 
to  place.  Never  trained  to  take  care  of  themselves, 
many  of  them  have  little  notion  how  to  do  it.  But 
w4th  judicious  help  and  education  noble  results  are 
being  achieved." 

At  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Institute  for  Coloured 
Youth  in  Philadelphia,  in  which  Marmaduke  Cope 
and  other  Friends  have  so  long  taken  an  active  in- 
terest, Stanley  Pumphrey  found  1500  people  assem- 
bled, almost  all  of  them  coloured  citizens,  all  respect- 
ably dressed,  and  listening  with  great  attention,  in 
perfect  order.  Such  occasions  and  such  institutions 
are  full  of  promise  for  the  future  of  the  coloured 
race. 

Stanley  Pumphrey  was  deeply  interested  in  his 
visit  to  Southland  College,  near  Helena,  in  the  State 
of  Arkansas.  This  institute  for  the  training  of  col- 
oured teachers  has  from  the  first  been  under  the  care 
of  Indiana  Friends.     Calvin  and  Alida  Clark  have 


Woi'k  Among  the  Coloured  People.        267 

been  stationed  there  since  1864.  The  traveller  along 
the  road  from  Helena  to  Forest  City,  after  leaving 
the  succession  of  low,  timbered  hills,  which  at  this 
point  skirt  the  great  basin  of  the  Mississippi  River, 
looks  down  from  a  w^ooded  slope  upon  a  broad  tract 
of  country  which  has  all  the  marks  of  fertility. 

Dotted  about  are  the  cabins  of  the  coloured  people, 
through  whose  toil  this  district  was  conquered  from 
the  forest,  and  turned  into  cotton  fields,  where  they 
worked  as  slaves.  The  process  of  clearing  is  still 
going  on,  as  indicated  by  the  tall,  bare  poles  of 
deadened  timber.  ''  You  will  know  Southland  di- 
rectly you  see  it,"  said  his  driver,  ''for  it  looks  quite 
like  a  town  ;"  and  he  soon  spied  it  with  its  impor- 
tant buildings.  Here  in  1864  an  orphan  asylum  was 
opened  by  Indiana  Friends. 

Colonel  Bentzoni,  who  was  then  stationed  at  He- 
lena, in  charge  of  the  56th  U.  S.  Coloured  Infantry, 
became  warmly  interested  in  the  institution,  and,  to- 
gether with  his  officers  and  men,  purchased  the  thirty 
acres  of  land  on  which  the  college  now  stands,  and 
conveyed  it  in  trust  for  the  coloured  people  to  Indi- 
ana Yearly  Meeting,  and  fifty  acres  have  since  been 
added.  The  soldiers  had  the  option  of  hanging  about 
Helena  doing  nothing,  or  of  working  for  the  interests 
of  their  own  people,  and,  much  to  their  credit,  they 
erected  the  first  buildings  for  the  orphans  themselves. 
Day  schools  were  added,  and  2500  children  have  been 
taught  to  read  and  write.  The  orphan  asylum  was 
afterwards  changed  into  the  Normal  Institute,  for 
training  coloured  teachers,  which  has  been  very  suc- 
cessful. About  one  hundred  have  gone  out  as  teach- 


268  Memories  of  Stanley  Pumphrey . 

ers,  and  fifty  of  these  are  now  teaching  in  Arkansas 
and  the  adjoining  States  of  Tennessee  and  Missis- 
sippi. 

When  Stanley  and  Sarah  Pumphrey  visited  South- 
land, in  1878,  they  attended  the  annual  temperance 
meeting.  "  The  enthusiasm  of  the  proceedings 
reached  its  height  when  several  of  the  older  coloured 
brethren  sang  some  of  their  old  plantation  hymns. 
One  of  these,  beginning — 

*  Go,  Jonah,  and  preach  My  Gospel,' 

related  with  much  minuteness  the  history  of  that  dis- 
obedient prophet ;  the  blanks  in  the  Bible  narrative 
were  filled  up,  and  Jonah's  experiences  from  the 
time  he  went  down  to  Joppa  till  he  was  swallowed 
by  the  fish  were  related  with  great  vividness  and 
force  of  imagination. 

"  Another  hymn  which  was  sung  with  ardour  runs 
in  this  fashion — 

*  Reign,  oh  reign,  oh  reign  my  Lord, 

Reign,  Massa  Jesus,  reign  ; 
Rain,  oh  rain  salvation  down, 

Reign,  Massa  Jesus,  reign.' 

''On  another  occasion  we  had  a  remarkable  testi- 
mony from  an  elderly  coloured  woman,  whose  de- 
portment had  the  dignity  and  refinement  that  true 
religion  alone  can  give.  A  skilful  dressmaker,  she 
had  earned  enough  money  to  purchase  her  own  free- 
dom and  that  of  one  of  her  children.  She  was  im- 
prisoned at  Charleston  by  the  Confederates  at  the 


Work  Among  the  Coloured  People.        269 

commencement  of  the  war,  because  in  a  letter  to  her 
son,  who  was  serving  in  the  Northern  army,  she  said 
she  was  praying  daily  for  his  preservation  and  that 
of  his  commanding  officer. 

***I  entered  the  ship  Zion  thirty  years  ago,'  she 
added,  'and  I  am  noways  tired.  The  Lord  has  been 
very  good  to  me.  The  Lord  has  delivered  me  out  of 
all  my  afflictions.  When  I  was  hungry,  He  fed  me  ; 
when  I  was  naked,  He  clothed  me  ;  when  I  was  sick, 
He  healed  me  ;  and  v/hen  I  was  in  trouble.  He  com- 
forted me.  Oh,  what  w^ould  the  world  be  without 
Jesus  !  Had  I  a  thousand  tongues  I  could  not  speak 
enough  in  my  Redeemer's  praise.' " 

Stanley  and  Sarah  Pumphrey,  in  company  with 
Elkanah  and  Irena  Beard,  had  a  number  of  meetings 
of  a  varied  character  with  these  people.  A  good 
deal  of  direct  religious  teaching  from  the  Bible  was 
given.  "  The  interest  increased  night  after  night  ; 
and  by  the  close  of  the  week  many  were  seeking  the 
pardon  of  their  sins,  and  others  had  renewed  their 
covenants.  During  the  daytime  we  had  many  pri- 
vate interviews  with  the  anxious  and  with  the  uncon- 
cerned ;  we  spent  a  considerable  time  in  the  classes, 
and  called  on  the  people  -in  the  neighbourhood. 
Elkanah  Beard  preached  with  great  earnestness. 
The  power  of  God  was  manifest,  and  as  soon  as 
he  had  finished,  numbers  came  forward  unsolici- 
ted, with  inquiries  like  those  which  were  made 
to  the  Apostles  on  the  day  of  Pentecost — '  Men  and 
brethren,  what  must  we  do  to  be  saved  ? '  One 
young  man,  for  w^hom  prayer  had  been  offered, 
came   and   asked   the  forgiveness   of  another  with 


2/0  Memories  of  Stanley  Pumphrey. 

whom  he  had  long  had  a  quarrel,  and  the  two  were 
reconciled. 

''  Amasa  and  Lydia  Chase  are  zealously  engaged 
in  missionary  work  in  the  neighbourhood.  When 
the  Indiana  Women's  Yearly  Meeting  raised  thirty 
dollars  for  their  support,  Lydia  Chase  at  once  in- 
vested it  in  tracts,  and  no  salaries  are  paid  to  any  one 
in  the  institution  except  the  teachers. 

''  The  place  is  still  known  as  the  '  asylun  '  amongst 
the  people  around,  and  some  of  the  orphan  children 
are  still  with  them.  One  of  these,  named  Emma 
France,  is  a  teacher  in  the  school.  She  was  a  very 
little  girl  when  brought  into  the  orphan  home,  and 
cannot  remember  much  of  her  life  previously.  Her 
name  was  Emma  Hopgood,  but  she  thought  it  was 
not  pretty,  so  she  changed  it  to  Emma  France.  This 
was  not  found  out  till  she  had  been  in  the  home 
some  time,  so  it  has  been  continued  ever  since. 

''Yesterday  was  the  fourteenth  anniversary  of  the 
institution,  and  invitations  were  sent  to  many  of  the 
old  students  and  friends,  who  gathered  in  from  dif- 
ferent parts  of  the  country.  These,  with  forty-five 
students  who  are  boarding  in  the  home  and  the 
friends  who  had  come  from  Indiana  to  be  present  on 
the  occasion,  were  regaled  with  a  turkey  dinner, 
after  which  a  '  praise  meeting '  was  held  in  the  Meet- 
ing House.  The  object  of  this  meeting  was  that  all 
might  have  an  opportunity  of  telling  how  the  Lord 
had  led  them,  and  how  they  had  been  getting  on 
spiritually  and  temporally  during  the  past  year,  or 
since  they  left  the  school.  It  was  conducted  by 
Elkanah  Beard,  who  was  well  fitted  for  the  post,  hav- 


Work  Among  the  Coloured  People,        271 

ing  been  with  them  many  times  at  the  anniversaries 
and  being  well  acquainted  with  the  students,  many 
of  whom  had  been  brought  to  the  Lord  at  the  time 
of  his  visits.  After  singing  and  prayer,  he  gave  an 
address  on  the  text,- 'We  are  witnesses.'  'We  have 
seen  great  things  done  which  our  forefathers  said 
were  impossible.  Steam  is  made  to  draw  a  train  of 
cars  along  a  railroad,  or  to  drive  a  ship  across  the 
sea.'  The  lightning  has  been  tamed  and  converted 
into  an  errand  boy  to  carry  messages  round  the 
world.  We  are  witnesses  of  these  things.  People 
said  it  was  no  more  use  trying  to  educate  and  elevate 
coloured  people  than  horses,  but  it  has  been  done, 
and  we  are  witnesses  of  the  fact.  And  then  we  are 
witnesses  of  what  the  power  of  God  can  do  in  saving 
souls.'     Many  old  students  spoke  afterwards. 

*'  William  Granville  said  he  came  to  the  school  in 
1865,  and  was  very  thankful  to  God  and  to  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Clark  for  all  the  blessings  he  had  received  there. 
He  is  now  taking  charge  of  a  school  himself,  and 
told  some  of  the  difficulties  he  has  to  meet  in  his 
work.  He  was  sorry  to  say  that  he  did  not  enjoy  so 
much  peace  as  formerly,  for  he  had  not  always  been 
faithful  in  doing  his  duty.  He  felt  he  ought  to  have 
prayer  in  his  school,  but  he  had  not  done  it,  and 
this  had  been  a  hindrance  to  his  spiritual  life. 

''  Simon  Walker  said  he  too  was  thankful  for  the 
benefit  he  had  received  when  at  the  institute.  He 
was  trying  to  serve  the  Lord,  had  devotional  exer- 
cises every  morning  in  his  school,  and  taught  the 
children  as  well  as  he  knew  how  from  the  Scriptures. 
Some  were  prejudiced  against  him  for  being  a  Quaker. 


2/2  Memories  of  Stanley  Pumphrey . 

The  rebel  whites  did  not  like  the  Quakers,  and  taught 
the  coloured  people  that  they  were  a  bad  set  and 
their  religion  was  of  no  account. 

"  William  Davis  said  he  was  trying  to  witness  for 
the  Lord  among  those  around  him  ;  he  talked  to 
them  about  temperance,  but  it  did  not  seem  to  make 
much  impression.  He  wanted  to  be  a  better  Chris- 
tian and  live  nearer  the  Lord. 

''  Zenas  Parrier  said  he  had  found  a  great  blessing 
since  he  had  been  in  the  school;  he  had  found  Jesus 
Christ,  while  many  of  his  old  associates  at  home  had 
been  going  to  the  penitentiary.  He  had  not  been  as 
faithful  as  he  ought  to  have  been,  and  seemed  to 
have  lost  some  of  the  blessing  he  once  enjoyed  :  but 
he  was  determined  to  do  better.  His  lessons  were 
very  hard — he  was  studying  geometry, — and  some- 
times he  got  vexed  over  it,  and  gave  his  teacher 
trouble  :  but  he  wouldn't  do  so  any  more  ;  he  would 
pray  to  the  Lord,  for  God  could  help  him  to  learn 
his  geometry  lesson.  He  felt  he  ought  to  speak  in 
the  meetings  sometimes,  but  he  had  neglected  it  so 
long  he  w^as  almost  ashamed  to  do  it  now  ;  and  this 
w^as  one  reason  he  had  got  off  the  track. 

"  George  Bell  had  left  the  institute  four  years. 
He  was  trying  to  do  all  in  his  power  to  elevate  his 
people  and  instruct  their  children.  He  had  taught 
a  school  in  Mississippi,  and  he  opened  the  school 
with  singing  and  prayer.  He  gave  his  scholars 
Scripture  instruction,  and  twenty-five  of  them  had 
professed  conversion  and  joined  the  Baptist  church. 
He  was  now  teaching  in  Arkansas,  300  miles  from 
Helena,  and  the  Lord  had  blessed  some  of  his  schol- 


Work  Among  the  Coloured  People.        273 

ars  there  ;  but  they  had  great  opposition  to  meet 
with  on  account  of  the  ignorance  of  the  parents. 
They  said  children  of  twelve  or  fifteen  years  of  age 
were  too  young  to  get  religion,  and  would  even  whip 
them  to  destroy  the  good  impressions  that  had  been 
made  on  them.  A  director  wanted  him  to  give  up 
teaching  from  the  Bible  ;  but  he  said  no^  he  would 
rather  give  up  the  school. 

'"''  Calvin  Lawry  said  he  had  been  getting  on  better 
the  past  year  in  his  Christian  life  than  ever  before, 
for  instead  of  bearing  his  troubles  himself,  he  had 
learnt  to  take  them  to  the  Lord. 

"  Many  others  spoke  and  gave  testimony  to  the 
blessings  they  had  received,  and  as  there  was  not 
time  to  hear  all,  those  were  asked  to  rise  who  had 
not  had  an  opportunity  to  speak,  but  who  had  been 
converted  since  they  had  been  in  the  institute,  when 
a  large  proportion  of  those  who  had  not  spoken  rose 
to  their  feet,  thus  to  testify  of  what  the  Lord  had 
done  for  their  souls." 

Stanley  Pumphrey  and  Irena  Beard  then  spoke  a 
few  words  of  encouragement  to  the  young  Christians 
to  be  steadfast  and  faithful,  and  the  meeting  closed. 

It  is  the  opinion  of  many  of  those  engaged  in  the 
work,  that  almost  the  only  hope  for  the  elevation  of 
the  coloured  population  in  the  South  is  in  the  edu- 
cation of  the  children.  The  older  people,  who  have 
been  raised  on  plantations  in  time  of  slavery,  are  so 
dark  and  ignorant.  The  county  school  inspector  re- 
marked to  Stanley  Pumphrey,  ''  We  should  not  know 
what  to  do  without  Southland  ;  they  turn  us  out  the 
best  teachers  we  can  get  for  the  coloured  people." 
12* 


274  Memories  of  Stanley  Pumphrey. 

*'  But  it  is  the  religious  part  of  the  work  that  has 
all  along  been  its  prominent  feature.  There  has 
been  an  earnest  concern  that  all  the  scholars  should 
be  brought  under  Christian  influence.  Compara- 
tively few  of  the  students  have  left  without  giving 
evidence  of  conversion  to  God  ;  and  about  one  hun- 
dred have  been  received  into  membership  with 
Friends. 

"  In  1873,  Southland  Monthly  Meeting  of  Friends 
was  established,  composed  almost  entirely  of  coloured 
people;  and  in  1876  a  branch  meeting  was  set  up 
called  Hickory  Ridge,  twenty  miles  further  west. 
Daniel  Drew,  a  coloured  man,  was  recorded  a  minis- 
ter of  the  Gospel  there  in  187 1,  and  continues  to  ex- 
ercise his  gift  to  the  edification  and  comfort  of  his 
friends.  Other  coloured  men  who  have  received  a 
gift  in  the  ministry  are  working  diligently  among 
their  own  people.  There  are  now  175  members,  and 
four  ministers  ;  and,  beyond  doubt,  the  work  is  owned 
and  blessed  of  the  Lord  to  the  great  good  of  many 
souls." 

While  in  the  south,  Stanley  Pumphrey  paid  a  visit 
to  the  Mammoth  Cave  in  Kentucky.  Since  the  dis- 
covery of  these  caves,  in  1809,  many  new  passages 
have  been  opened  and  explored.  Visitors  are  taken 
nine  miles  under  the  earth.  The  galleries  vary  very 
much  in  height,  from  forty  feet  to  ten  and  fifteen 
feet.  One  of  the  most  interesting  halls  is  the  Star 
Chamber,  the  roof  of  which  spangles  with  alabaster, 
something  like  the  milky  way,  with  its  myriads  of 
stars.  Another  chamber  is  rightly  named  the  Wild 
Hall,  from  the  weird  irregularity  of  its  walls  and 


Work  Among  the  Coloured  People,        275 

floor.  Another  is  the  Chapel,  where  young  couples 
have  sometimes  been  married.  We  approached 
Gorms  Dome  by  a  series  of  rough  staircases,  till  we 
came  to  a  sort  of  window,  through  which  we  looked 
into  a  vague  height  above,  and  a  dim  depth  below. 
The  guide  threw  in  a  Bengal  light,  which  revealed  a 
cavity  some  300  feet  in  height,  the  walls  being  en- 
crusted with  stalactite.  To  the  Mammoth  Dome  we 
had  a  much  harder  scramble.  Here  we  found  five 
natural  columns,  huge  as  those  of  York  Minster, 
supporting  a  roof  whose  height  and  span  are  truly 
gigantic  ;  and  the  stalactites  and  stalagmites  are  very 
grand.  Another  great  gulf  that  was  lighted  up  for  our 
benefit  has  received  the  title  of  the  Bottomless  Pit. 
At  the  bottom  of  another  unattractive  hollow  is  a 
pool  known  as  the  Dead  Sea,  adjoining  a  subterra- 
nean river  in  which  are  the  strange  eyeless  fish  who 
have  never  known  the  privileges  of  da3dight.  The 
spiders  also  are  blind,  and  the  rats  nearly  so.  Inhab- 
iting this  huge  cave  is  an  entirely  distinct  variety  of 
bat,  larger  than  the  common  one,  with  head  like  a 
rabbit,  greyish  coat,  and  white  feet.  For  nearly  a 
mile  from  the  entrance  bats  abound,  and  hang  to- 
gether in  clusters,  blackening  Ihe  roof.  They  like 
the  warmth  of  the  cave,  which  stands  at  an  even  tem- 
perature of  59°  summer  and  winter.  Thirty  years  ago 
people  adopted  the  notion  that  owing  to  this  even- 
ness of  temperature  a  residence  in  the  cave  would  be 
very  useful  for  consumptive  patients,  and  a  dozen 
houses  were  built,  to  which  the  invalids  were  brought 
great  distances.  But  no  evenness  of  temperature 
could  compensate  for  the  unvarying  gloom,  and  the 


276  Memories  of  Stanley  Piimphrey. 

patients  died  off  one  by  one  ;  and  we  found  only  the 
remnants  of  the  walls  of  two  of  the  houses.  We  also 
saw  the  remains  of  the  saltpetre  works  which  were 
carried  on  successfully  here  during  the  war  of  181 2. 
The  return  route  to  daylight  is  very  curious,  up  the 
steep  and  tortuous  steps  of  a  corkscrew  staircase, 
reminding  me  of  the  lines  in  which  Dante  closes  the 
first  section  of  his  wonderful  poem  : — 

'  Rough  was  the  stair  we  came  to 

By  that  secret  way. 
My  guide  and  I  did  enter  to  return 
To  the  fair  world  ;  and,  heedless  of  repose, 
"We  climbed,  he  first,  I  following  his  steps 
Till  on  our  view  the  beautiful  lights  of  heaven 
Dawned  through  a  circular  opening  in  the  cave, 
Thence  issuing  we  again  beheld  the  stars.'  " 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

CANADA. 

An  officer  in  the  army,  about  the  year  17 14,  grow- 
ing dissatisfied  and  uneasy  in  his  mind  about  his 
soul,  returned  home  and  sat  down  with  his  family  to 
wait  in  quiet  retirement  upon  God.  Some  of  his 
neighbours  came  and  sat  down  with  him,  but  they 
did  not  know  any  people  who  held  the  views  they 
were  embracing  until  someone  who  had  some  knowl- 
edge of  Friends  told  them  they  were  "  Quakers." 
Subsequently  a  committee  from  New  York  was  ap- 
pointed to  visit  them,  and  thus  the  first  meeting  of 
the  Society  of  Friends  was  established  in  Canada. 
In  1809,  Canada  Half- Yearly  Meeting  was  formed, 
and  as  the  meetings  -grew,  from  immigration  and 
other  causes,  Canada  Yearly  Meeting  was  at  last  set- 
tled on  its  present  basis,  in  1867.  The  first  time  the 
Yearly  Meeting  was  held  '*  The  Dominion  of  Canada  " 
was  publicly  inaugurated,  and  this  singular  coinci- 
dence gave  fresh  courage  to  the  gathering,  and  they 
embraced  the  opportunity  to  send  their  friendly  as- 
surances of  loyalty  to  the  new  Government.  A  body 
consisting  to  a  large  extent  of  immigrants  who  squat 
on  land  allotments,  and  are  engrossed  in  the  hard 
struggle  of  colonists  is  not  usually  a  promising  soil 
for  corporate  Church  action.     But  difficulties  of  this 


2/8  Memories  of  Stanley  Ptimphrey, 

sort  are  continually  mending,  and  congregations  that 
at  one  time  might  seem  to  present  somewhat  conglo- 
merate elements  become  gradually  annealed. 

'•''  I  stayed  the  night  at  Buffalo,"  writes  Stanley 
Pumphrey,  ''and  proceeding  the  next  morning  over 
the  magnificent  bridge  across  the  Niagara  to  Canada, 
was  met  by  William  Wetherald,  whose  preaching  is 
much  appreciated  through  the  country.  I  dined 
with  John  Atkins,  formerly  of  Chipping  Norton, 
England.  From  the  hill  on  which  his  house  stands 
there  is  an  extensive  view  of  Lake  Erie  on  the  one 
hand,  and  of  Lake  Ontario  on  the  other.  They  can 
see  a  hundred  miles  in  one  direction.  The  spray 
from  the  falls  of  Niagara,  which  is  12  miles  away,  is 
often  seen,  and  the  sound  may  be  heard  on  a  still 
winter's  night. 

"Canada  Yearly  Meeting  is  small.  There  were 
many  ministers  present  from  other  Yearly  Meetings, 
and  the  services  of  Walter  Morris,  from  England, 
who  has  been  visiting  the  Friends  at  their  own 
homes,  was  spoken  of  with  warm  appreciation.  He 
procured  a  horse  and  trap,  and  had  driven  himself 
about  the  country,  for  the  distances  he  had  to  travel 
were  often  so  great,  it  would  have  been  difficult  to 
manage  any  other  way.  The  Clerk  of  the  Yearly 
Meeting  said,  '  Walter  has  done  a  great  work  among 
us.*  Ever^  morning  during  the  Yearly  Meeting, 
from  8.15  to  9.45,  meetings  for  exhortation  and 
prayer  were  held,  of  the  kind  that  has  become  char- 
acteristic of  American  Yearly  Meetings,  commenc- 
ing with  a  Bible  reading  and  exposition,  prayers  and 
short  addresses  occupying  the  first  hour,  and  short 


Canada.  279 

testimonies  from  all  parts  of  the  house  the  remainder 
of  the  time,  interspersed  with  singing.  Two  evening 
meetings  were  held  for  seekers,  including  those  who 
desired  a  higher  experience  as  well  as  those  who 
were  longing  for  forgiveness. 

*'  The  Friends  at  whose  house  I  was  staying  sud- 
denly received  the  intelligence  that  their  son,  a 
promising  lad  of  sixteen,  had  been  drowned  while 
bathing  the  previous  evening.  I  felt  that  it  was  my 
duty  to  attend  the  funeral.  A  very  large  company 
assembled,  perhaps  not  fewer  than  a  hundred  car- 
riages being  on  the  ground.  The  Hicksite  Meeting 
House,  as  being  larger  than  our  own,  was  thrown 
open  for  us,  but  even  then  many  were  unable  to  get 
in.  The  teacher  of  the  High  School  at  Newmarket, 
brought  all  the  boy's  schoolfellows.  I  took  for  my 
text,  *  Prepare  to  meet  thy  God,'  and  pointed  them 
to  Jesus  Christ  as  the  one  Saviour,  the  Lamb  of  God, 
our  Redeemer  and  Propitiation. 

"  With  respect  to  the  Indians  in  Canada,  it  has 
often  been  pointed  out  that  the  Canadian  Govern- 
ment has  far  less  trouble  in  dealing  with  its  Indian 
subjects  than  the  United  States.  The  Indians  of 
Canada,  according  to  the  latest  census,  are  estimated 
at  99,650.  Of  this  number  one-third  are  resident  on 
reserves,  and  are  chiefly  to  be  found  in  the  provinces 
of  Ontario,  Quebec,  Nova  Scotia,  and  New  Bruns- 
wick ;  the  remaining  two-thirds  pursue  their  old  no- 
madic life  in  Manitoba,  British  Columbia,  and  other 
parts  of  the  north-west. 

*'  The  most  important  of  these  reserves  is  that  oc- 
cupied by  the  Six  Nations,  on  the  Grand  River,  near 


28o  Memories  of  Stanley  Piimphrey. 

Brantford,  where  3300  Indians  are  settled  on  52,000 
acres  of  excellent  land.  In  company  with  Super- 
intendent Gilkison,  I  visited  this  reservation.  The 
condition  of  the  Indians  upon  it  may  be  taken  as  a 
favourable,  though  not  an  unfair,  specimen  of  that 
of  others  in  Ontario  and  Quebec.  They  hold  the 
land  in  common,  but  lots,  not  exceeding  one  hunr 
dred  acres,  are  laid  off  for  the  benefit  of  any  head  of 
a  family.  Year  by  year  increasing  tracts  of  land  are 
brought  under  cultivation,  and  large  crops  are  raised* 
Every  man  has  his  house,  and,  in  a  large  proportion 
of  cases,  a  barn  or  a  stable  in  addition,  a  plough  and 
a  wagon,  a  horse  and  a  cow.  Their  agricultural 
shows,  held  each  year,  rival  those  of  their  white 
neighbours.  It  is  an  interesting  mark  of  progress 
that  thirty-eight  Indians  in  the  Dominion  are  in  pos- 
session of  threshing  machines  worth  200  dollars  each, 
and  bought  with  the  produce  of  their  own  labour  ; 
and  that  three  diplomas  and  one  medal  were  awarded 
for  wheat  and  barley  grown  by  them,  and  exhibited 
at  the  Centennial  at  Philadelphia.  The  houses  and 
the  farm  buildings  of  the  Six  Nations  compare 
favourably  with  those  that  may  be  seen  in  many 
frontier  portions  of  the  States. 

'*  Chief  George  Hill  Johnson  lives  in  a  genteelly 
furnished  house,  at  which  we  were  kindly  enter- 
tained, and  enjoyed  his  company  and  that  of  his 
wife  and  well-educated  daughters.  He  spoke  in  de- 
cided terms  of  the  improved  condition  of  his  people, 
as  also  did  one  Oneida  Indian  with  whom  I  conversed. 
The  latter  had  been  away  for  ten  years,  and  was 
much  struck  with  the  change  for  the  better  on  his 


Canada.  281 

return.  The  increased  use  of  the  English  language 
was  specially  remarked  ;  and  of  this  an  illustration 
came  under  my  own  notice.  The  old  chiefs,  in  the 
council  I  was  permitted  to  attend,  talked  Mohawk  ; 
but  the  young  folks,  playing  croquet  outside,  were 
all  speaking  English,  The  progress  of  education  has 
been  less  satisfactory  than  in  some  other  things,  the 
low  condition  and  irregular  attendance  at  the  schools 
being  one  of  the  most  frequent  complaints  in  the 
annual  reports  of  the  agents  ;  1985  children  are  re- 
ported as  attending  school  from  among  the  15,000 
Indians  of  Ontario  ;  but  the  daily  average  is  only 
931.  Hence  the  great  value  of  institutions  where  the 
children  can  be  boarded  and  lodged,  and  kept  under 
constant  supervision.  A  very  valuable  work  is  being 
done  by  the  Mohawk  Institute.  Here  I  found  eighty- 
three  children  receiving  an  excellent  education,  in 
which  prominence  is  wisely  given  to  industrial  train- 
ing. The  girls  do  all  the  housework,  cook,  wash,  and 
sew  ;  the  boys  work  on  the  farm  and  in  the  garden,  and 
are  taught  carpentering,  painting,  and  other  trades. 
The  lady  who  showed  me  round  the  house  pointed  with 
pride  to  the  play-room  the  boys  had  built,  the  doors 
they  had  made,  and  the  carving  they  had  executed. 

"Missionary  work  in  behalf  of  the  Indians  has 
the  warm  encouragement  and  co-operation  of  the 
Canadian  Government,  and  the  agents  bear  emphatic 
testimony  to  its  good  eifects.  Mr.  Plummer  of  To- 
ronto, who  has  charge  of  the  central  superintend- 
ency,  reports  that  among  2800  Indians  belonging 
to  his  bands,  there  are  two  ordained  clergymen  of 
the  Church  of   England,  two   Methodist  ministers, 


282  Memories  of  Stanley  Piimphrey. 

one  Congregational  minister,  nine  school  teachers, 
and  two  medical  men,  who  have  passed  creditable 
examinations.  Most  of  the  Indians  in  the  older  por- 
tions of  Canada  are  professing  Christians. 

"Under  the  favourable  circumstances  in  which 
they  are  placed,  the  Indians  of  the  Dominion  are 
slowly  increasing  in  numbers.  This,  at  least,  is  the 
case  in  the  two  large  agencies  presided  over  by  J.  T. 
Gilkison  and  W.  Plummer,  who  are  both  able  to  re- 
port an  increase  of  something  over  one  per  cent,  per 
annum  for  a  number  of  years.  Both  these  gentle- 
men bear  witness  to  the  hearty  loyalty  and  general 
good  order  of  the  bands  under  their  care.  They  do 
not  consider  that  they  give  more  trouble,  probably 
not  so  much,  as  a  similar  number  of  white  people  of 
the  lower  classes  would  under  like  circumstances. 
Though  amenable,  like  other  subjects,  to  the  laws  of 
the  Dominion,  cases  of  arrest  for  crime  are  not  num- 
erous ;  stealing  is  too  frequent,  but  acts  of  violence 
against  whites  are  almost  unknown.  The  greatest 
trouble  is  with  the  drink  ;  all  the  care  of  the  agents 
and  all  the  strictness  of  the  law  not  being  sufficient 
to  prevent  its  introduction  on  the  reserves,  though  an 
amendment  to  the  Act,  imposing  a  minimum  fine  of 
fifty  dollars  on  any  one  selling  liquor  to  an  Indian,  is 
reported  to  have  had  a  very  beneficial  effect.  The 
strong  point  in  the  Canadian  system  of  management 
is  fair  play.  The  Indian  knows  that  the  lands  once 
allotted  are  secure,  that  funds  held  in  trust  will  be 
scrupulously  administered,  and  that  even-handed 
justice  and  protection  will  be  dealt  to  him,  and  he  is 
therefore  satisfied  and  loyal. 


Canada,  283 

**  The  resen^es  are  the  property  of  the  bands 
placed  upon  them.  No  portion  can  be  sold  except 
with  the  consent  of  a  majority  of  male  adults  by 
special  vote,  and  this  must  be  confirmed  by  the  Gov- 
ernment, which  in  these  matters  exercises  a  parental 
guardianship,  and  interferes  if  its  wards  do  not  seem 
awake  to  their  real  interests.  White  intruders  are 
summarily  evicted  if  they  venture  to  settle  on  the 
reserves.  If  mistakes  are  made,  care  is  taken  to  rec- 
tify them.  When  Indian  lands  are  sold,  the  proceeds 
are  held  in  trust  by  the  Government,  and  the  interest- 
is  divided  half-yearly  among  the  owners.  These 
annuities  are  of  doubtful  benefit  to  them,  but  the 
moral  effect  of  the  knowledge  that  they  are  being 
fairly  treated  and  are  getting  what  is  due  to  them,  is 
of  the  greatest  value.  The  Government  gives  them 
full  information  as  to  their  affairs  and  moneys,  and 
furnishes  them  with  copies  of  their  accounts  half- 
yearly.     Agents  are  not  liable  to  frequent  removal. 

"  *  Confidence  begot  of  faith  kept,  and  justice 
observed,  has  ever  been  and  will  ever  be,  we  trust,' 
say  the  people  of  Canada,  '  the  bond  of  union  be- 
tween us  and  our  red  children.'  'We  have  confi- 
dence in  you,'  the  Indians  reply,  'for  none  of  your 
treaties  with  us  have  ever  been  violated.' 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

RETURNING   HOME. 

*'  Farewell  to  Friends  in  America. 

*'  Dear  Friends. — I  believe  the  time  has  now  come 
for  my  long  service  among  you  to  be  brought  to  a 
close  ;  and  I  wish  to  say  a  few  parting  words.  During 
the  four  years  that  I  have  spent  among  you,  in  the 
latter  half  of  which  I  have  been  accompanied  by  my 
dear  wife,  I  have  visited  much  the  larger  proportion 
of  your  meetings  ;  and  with  the  single  exception  of 
Walnut  Creek  quarter  in  Kansas,  I  have  laboured 
more  or  less  in  all  your  ninety  Quarterly  Meetings, 
while  to  not  a  few  the  Lord  has  led  me  repeatedly. 
Before  I  left  my  home  I  believed  that  the  promise 
given  to  Jacob  was  renewed  to  me,  *  I  am  with  thee, 
and  will  keep  thee  in  all  places  whither  thou  goest, 
and  will  bring  thee  again  into  thine  own  land  ;  for  I 
will  not  leave  thee  until  I  have  done  that  which  I 
have  spoken  to  thee  of. '  '  Thou  hast  dealt  well  with 
thy  servant,  O  Lord,  according  to  Thy  word,'  is  my 
heartfelt  acknowledgment  as  I  think  how  graciously 
this  promise  has  been  verified  in  my  long  journey- 
ings,  in  which  I  have  been  kept  from  all  danger,  and 
in  almost  uninterrupted  health,  though  havinggreater 
cause  than  Jacob  to  say,  '  I  am  not  worthy  of  the 
least  of  all  the  mercies  and  of  all  the  truth  which 
Thou  hast  showed  unto  Thy  servant.' 


Returning  Home.  285 

*' Among  the  mercies  of  which  we  have  been  par- 
takers, the  love  of  our  brethren  flowing  out  in 
thoughtful  kindness  and  willing  help,  has  been 
specially  refreshing.  Our  Friends  may  be  assured 
of  our  grateful  love  for  them,  and  that  we  earnestly 
desire  their  individual  and  collective  welfare. 

'^  In  the  last  Quarterly  Meeting  I  attended,  that  at 
Spiceland,  the  subject  that  seemed  given  to  me  to 
present  was  from  Acts  ix.  31,  '  Then  had  the  churches 
rest  throughout  all  Judaea  and  Galilee  and  Samaria, 
and  were  edified  ;  and  walking  in  the  fear  of  the 
Lord,  and  in  the  comfort  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  were 
multiplied. '  What  a  beautiful  picture  is  presented  in 
these  words,  of  a  church  at  rest,  because  united  ; 
holy,  because  living  in  the  fear  of  God ;  happy, 
through  the  comfort  of  the  Spirit ;  multiplying,  be- 
cause faithful  in  its  testimony  to  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  Let  us  ask  that  we  may  at  least  approxi- 
mate this  blessed  standard  ;  that  our  people,  united 
in  love  to  one  another  in  the  truth,  may  be  valiant 
for  the  truth  upon  the  earth.  I  am  thankful  for  all 
true  philanthropic  effort,  and  wish  that  we  may 
abound  in  it  increasingly.  I  bless  God  for  the  love 
that  goes  out  to  the  poor  and  wretched,  feeding  the 
hungry,  clothing  the  naked,  teaching  the  ignorant, 
caring  for  the  fatherless,  the  widow  and  the  stranger, 
relieving  those  who  are  afflicted  in  mind,  body,  or 
estate  ;  but  let  us  not  forget  that  the  truest  piiilan- 
thropy  reaches  forth  to  the  soul  of  our  brother,  seek- 
ing to  rescue  him  from  sin  and  bring  him  in  repent- 
ance and  faith  to  the  Saviour's  feet. 

*'  This  is  the  highest  mission  of  the  church  ;  a  mis- 


286  Memories  of  Stanley  Pumphrey. 

sion  to  which  we  must  gird  ourselves  and  put  on 
strength  in  the  name  of  the  Lord.  Each  meeting 
should  be  a  light  in  its  own  neighbourhood.  Our 
messengers  should  be  going  forth  to  the  neglected 
and  degraded  of  the  land,  and  in  far-reaching  love 
and  obedience,  wx  should  unite  in  helping  to  carry 
the  Gospel  to  the  dark  places  of  the  earth." 

Thus  Stanley  Pumphrey  wrote  from  Baltimore 
during  the  last  days  of  the  year  1879,  ^^^  earjy  in 
the  New  Year  1880  sailed  for  England  on  board  the 
"  Celtic."  Sitting  on  the  steamer  he  thus  calmly 
reviews  the  work  which  the  ocean  was  now  so  rap- 
idly separating  from  him  : — 

''We  are  having  a  magnificent  passage;  the  sea 
as  smooth  and  the  weather  as  warm  as  it  often  is  in 
summer.  We  think  we  were  directed  rightly  both 
as  regards  the  ship  and  the  time  for  sailing,  and  de- 
sire in  these  things  to  commemorate  the  goodness 
of  the  Lord. 

''  The  distance  travelled  during  the  last  four  years, 
including  the  transits  across  the  Atlantic,  has  been 
about  60,000  miles.  Had  I  to  plan  the  journey  over 
again,  I  would  try  to  be  satisfied  with  the  attendance 
of  fewer  Yearly  Meetings  ;  but  in  looking  over  my 
course,  I  have  ordered  it  according  to  the  light  I 
had,  and  I  do  not  feel  condemned.  I  am,  however, 
confirmed  in  the  impression  that  Yearly  Meetings 
are  too  much  crowded  by  travelling  preachers,  and 
that  ministers  would  do  much  better  to  distribute 
their  w^ork  more  than  they  do,  and  also  that  they 
would  be  able  to  serve  more  intelligently  in  the 
Yearly  Meeting  assemblies,  had  their  visits  to  the 


Returning  Home.  287 

subordinate  meetings  been  paid  before  attending  the 
Yearly  Meetings. 

*^  I  have  attended  twenty- two  Yearly  Meetings 
during  the  four  years — Baltimore,  Canada,  and  Ohio 
once  ;  North  Carolina,  Philadelphia,  New  York,  New 
England  and  Iowa  twice  ;  Indiana,  Western,  and 
Kansas  three  times.  My  service  has  largely  con- 
sisted in  attending  Quarterly  Meetings.  In  most  of 
the  Yearly  Meetings  these  are  well  arranged,  for  the 
convenience  of  travelling  preachers,  being  fixed  a 
week  apart,  and  so  as  not  to  involve  unnecessary 
travel.  The  Quarterly  Meetings  generally  include  a 
Sabbath  Day,  at  which  time  the  people  from  the 
whole  neighbourhood  crowd  in,  so  that  you  see  a 
large  concourse,  and  in  no  other  w^ay  can  the  whole 
body  of  the  Society  of  Friends  be  so  readily  met 
with.  In  the  intervals  between  the  Quarterly  Meet- 
ings many  particular  meetings  can  be  visited.  I 
have  attended  92  of  these  Quarterly  Meetings,  some 
of  them  repeatedly,  and  have  thus  visited  71  out  of 
the  90  Quarterly  Meetings  in  America,  and  have 
laboured  in  them  all,  except  the  remote  Quarterly 
Meeting  of  Walnut  Creek,  on  the  northern  line  of 
Kansas,  w^hich  would  have  taken  a  month  to  visit,  and 
I  never  saw  an  opportunity  of  finding  the  time  for  it. 

"There  appear  to  be  644  meetings  of  our  Society 
in  America,  and  of  these  I  have  visited  440,  in  the 
following  geographical  limits  ; — In  Canada,  I  visited 
II,  in  New  England  46,  in  New  York  ^yZy  i^  Phila- 
delphia 37,  in  Baltimore  7,  in  North  Carolina  38, 
in  Ohio  27,  in  Indiana  102,  in  Western  dZ^  in  Iowa 
50,  in  Kansas  21. 


288  Memories  of  Stanley  Pumphrey. 

**  I  have  also  attended  a  few  meetings  of  the 
Wilburite  Friends,  a  good  many  with  the  Hicksites, 
especially  in  and  around  Philadelphia,  and  a  number 
of  meetings  in  the  churches  and  chapels  of  other 
denominations. 

''  Often  many  meetings  have  been  held  successive- 
ly in  the  same  place.  Probably  ten  meetings  a  week 
for  the  whole  four  years  would  be  a  correct  average. 
The  cost  of  my  journey,  with  the  exception  of  the 
out  passages,  has  been  entirely  borne  by  American 
Friends.  The  time  I  have  spent  in  the  different 
Yearly  Meetings  is  about  as  follows.  In  Baltimore 
and  Canada,  the  two  smallest,  about  three  months 
between  them  ;  in  Ohio,  two  months  ;  in  New  York, 
New  England,  and  Iowa,  four  months  each ;  in 
Western,  and  Kansas,  about  five  months  each  ;  in 
Indiana,  and  North  Carolina,  about  six  months  each  ; 
in  Philadelphia,  about  eight  months.  The  need  of 
North  Carolina  and  Kansas  struck  me  as  being 
greater  than  some  others,  and  this  accounts  for  the 
comparatively  long  time  spent  in  these  two  States  ; 
and  the  time  allotted  to  Kansas  includes  the  long 
trip  to  the  Indian  Territory.  What  little  literary- 
work  I  accomplished  was  done  in  Philadelphia  :  the 
lecture  on  Indian  civilization  was  prepared  there  in 
the  spring  of  1877  ;  the  lecture  on  Friends'  missions 
was  written  there  just  before  I  left.  In  review  of  all 
my  mercies  I  can  but  exclaim,  '  Bless  the  Lord,  O 
my  soul,  and  all  that  is  within  me,  bless  His  holy 
name.'" 


CHAPTER  XXV. 


AT    REST. 


In  the  latter  part  of  January,  1880,  Stanley  and 
Sarah  Pumphrey  landed  in  England  and  returned  to 
their  comfortable  home  at  41  Britannia  Square, 
Worcester.  His  beloved  sister  Helen  Eddington  had 
passed  away  in  his  absence,  but  his  sisters  Lucy  and 
Caroline  gladly  welcomed  their  brother  home.  In 
the  spring  of  1880,  Stanley  attended  the  Yearly  Meet- 
ings of  Dublin  and  London,  and  paid  several  short 
visits.  In  the  autumn  his  only  child  was  born. 
Always  fond  of  children  and  a  favourite  with  them, 
he  had  now  what  he  spoke  of  as  the  "  added  treasure 
of  a  dear  little  daughter."  Immediately  after  Christ- 
mas he  visited  Leominster,  and  gave  an  address  on 
Bible  revision  at  the  annual  meeting  of  the  adult 
Bible  class.  He  also  delighted  the  children  at  the 
Orphan  Homes  with  his  American  stories,  and  en- 
tered heartily  into  all  that  was  going  on,  and  many 
could  unite  in  the  child's  remark,  **  It  was  so  good 
of  God  to  let  him  be  with  us  then." 

On  the  8th  January,  1881,  though  feeling  unwell, 
he  went  to  Sheffield  to  lecture  on  the  religious  teach- 
ing of  the  Society  of  Friends.  The  evening  of  his 
arrival  he  gave  an  address  on  America  to  the  adult 
scholars,  and  the  next  day  was  at  the  usual  meetings 
13 


290  Memories  of  Stanley  Pumphrey. 

of  Friends,  preaching  impressively  on  the  fulness 
of  blessing  which  there  is  in  Christ.  On  the  loth 
he  was  too  ill  to  fulfil  his  engagement.  His  illness 
proved  to  be  typhoid  fever,  and  his  wife  was  tele- 
graphed for.  He  did  not  suffer  acutely,  and  while 
keeping  very  quiet,  enjoyed  much  blessed  commun- 
ion with  the  Lord.  The  complaint  at  first  progressed 
favourably,  but  a  relapse  came  on,  and  though  all 
was  done  that  medical  skill  and  thoughtful  consider- 
ation could  suggest,  it  soon  became  evident  that 
death  was  near:  '•!  have  clearly  seen,"  he  said, 
"  that  this  sickness  has  been  sent  in  the  goodness  of 
the  Lord,  and  He  is  blessing  it  to  me  in  many  ways." 
Stanley  wished  to  recover,  that  he  might  glorify 
Christ  more  fully,  but  when  told  of  his  danger,  said, 
''  If  called  to  go,  I  am  quite  ready." 

In  God's  unerring  wisdom  the  call  came,  and  on 
the  17th  February,  1881,  in  the  forty-fourth  year 
of  his  age,  he  entered  on  the  ''  perfect  service  in  the 
Master's  presence,"  to  which  he  had  looked  forward 
as  one  of  the  brightest  joys  of  heaven."  As  a  little 
child  his  prayer  had  been,  "  I  know  what  it  is  Thou 
wants;  my  Avill."  That  will  had  been  surrendered 
to  his  Heavenly  Father,  and  a  truly  consecrated  life 
had  been  the  result.  His  ministry,  commenced  in 
early  manhood,  was  cherished  and  cultivated  as  a 
gift  from  God.  With  singleness  of  purpose  he  had 
relinquished  business  that  he  might  devote  himself 
wholly  to  the  service  of  God,  stirring  up  the  gift  that 
was  in  him,  and  seeking  with  unflagging  diligence  to 
fulfil  the  ministry  with  w^hich  he  was  entrusted. 

The  announcement  of  Stanley  Pumphrey's  death 


At  Rest.  291 

fell  with  solemn  awe  on  American  Friends,  as  well 
as  on  his  friends  in  England. 

"  Pumphrey  Hall,"  for  which  he  had  diligently 
laboured,  had  just  been  added  to  the  group  of 
buildings  for  the  coloured  teachers  in  the  Normal 
College  at  Southland,  Arkansas,  and  as  the  letter 
arrived  with  the  sorrowful  intelligence,  it  was 
opened  with  trembling  hand,  and  read  with  tearful 
eyes.  At  the  Bible  reading  that  morning,  several 
of  the  students  rose  and  testified  that  it  was  during 
his  visit  to  Southland,  that  they  found  Christ 
precious  to  their   souls  in  the   forgiveness  of  sins. 

A  series  of  meetings  was  being  held  in  New  York 
State  at  the  time,  and  when  the  preachers  returned 
to  their  lodgings  in  the  evening,  a  letter  was  lying 
on  the  library  table  announcing  Stanley  Pumphrey's 
death.  They  all  bowed  in  prayer  and  emotion,  not 
a  word  was  uttered,  their  hearts  were  too  full. 

In  the  cabin  of  the  Freedman, 

In  the  Indian's  shelter  rude 
All  unshrinking  stood  our  brother, 

Pure  in  heart  with  soul  subdued. 
In  our  colleges  and  churches, 

With  a  practised  eye  and  hand, 
For  the  common  good  he  laboured, 

Far  throughout  the  wide- spread  land. 

''The  lesson  of  such  a  life,"  exclaimed  J.  Bevan 
Braithwaite,  'Svas  granted  to  us  in  God's  wisdom, 
and  He  has  called  us  to  an  equally  devoted  service. 
Shall  our  young  men  be  henceforth  entangled  in 
the  intricacies  of  worldly  pursuits,  or  led  astray  by 


292  Memories  of  Stanley  Pumphrey. 

the  splendid  baubles  of  this  world's  flattery  ?  Rather 
shall  they  not  be  willing,  like  Stanley  Pumphrey, 
to  count  all  things  but  dross,  that  they  may  win 
Christ  !  The  Lord's  hand  is  not  shortened.  In  the 
devoted  service  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  there  are 
still  to  be  found  glorious  liberty,  and  perfect  peace, 
joy  and  praise." 


END. 


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